


Stripped

by PlayfulMay



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Baby Henry, F/F, Flirting, Lapdance, Self-Defense, Slow Burn, Teasing, Texting, lawyer Emma, more tags to come - no spoilers!, stripper Regina
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-06-22 11:50:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15581355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlayfulMay/pseuds/PlayfulMay
Summary: Regina is a single mother who strips to support her son, Emma's a lawyer, and Henry's just a toddler. After Emma and Regina meet, how will their lives change?





	1. Meet Cute

 

It was the same as any other night - no better or worse. Regina Mills exhaustingly plopped herself down onto the bar stool that was reserved for her in the dancers’ dressing room area after arriving at work. Her bus had been late, she'd argued with her landlord, and nearly twisted her ankle after someone had bumped past her aggressively on the street, but at least she was able to afford good childcare for her son. She looked at herself in the dirty, old mirror with seriously tired eyes and just breathed. It was all worth it for her little baby boy, Henry. Henry was worth everything.

"Hey, G? You're on in ten, Babe," Ruby slurred happily, just having finished her shift with two free drinks. "And I'm goin out with some of the girls. You want me to swing by and get you after you’re off?"

"No, I can't," Regina said seriously, not that she was interested in going out after work in any facet. She always went straight to pick up her son from daycare. "Henry just started at that new place I can finally afford. Mary Margaret’s is open late, but she won't keep him past midnight. I have the early shift now for a reason."

Ruby smirked at her: "You got a nun watching your kid or something? Some Cinderella bullshit about the strike of midnight?"

Regina smiled because she was happy to afford a wealthy at-home childcare center like Mary Margaret's. While she detested the woman herself, Mary Margaret and her staff was great with toddlers, and her castle-like mansion had everything a growing little boy could ever need. It was safe, it was very clean, and it wasn't too far from her apartment. "The place is just good for him, that's all. And most importantly, he likes it there."

Ruby smiled back sadly, knowing that Regina was only working there for her son, not enjoying the job but forced to do it if she wanted to save up for her little boy.

"Kay, well I'll see you tomorrow, Babe."

"Bye," Regina said, turning back to the mirror, sighing, and then going to her wardrobe and picking out an assuredly ridiculous outfit.

 

 

***

 

 

After work, Regina sat glumly on the bus, getting off at her stop nearest her destination and walking the extra ten minutes to the daycare, smiling on her way at one simple and shining thought: Henry. Her smile lifted every time she thought of her son's smile or the way he hugged and cuddled her with all of his being. She never tired of knowing she was bringing him up the best possible way she could.

Since having picked up her new job only four months ago, she was frugal and already saving money to rent a new place. A nicer place. And that enthused her more than anything. She didn't want her little boy to have to live in a place that was sprayed for bugs every six months.

Regina's feet picked up their pace as she neared the large building on the ritzy, windy road, hurrying up the steps and knocking gently on the front door as was asked of her.

When the large door opened and a redheaded woman answered with a crooked smile, Regina beamed: "Hi, I'm Regina and I'm here for my little Henry. I don't recognize you, I'm sorry. Is he still asleep?"

"Of course," The woman smiled even wider. "I'm Belle and I do lots of the administrative work here but I help here and there. Henry's had a good night. Went down almost right after you left. Poor lad, he was just exhausted from the trip."

Ever since Regina started bringing Henry to Mary Margaret's just a week ago, Henry had a hard time getting to sleep without Regina there to put him down, but the good news Regina heard relaxed her significantly. "Perfect."

"I hope he sleeps well on the car ride home," Belle smirked over her shoulder, leading Regina down the hall. Regina was too ashamed to admit she didn't yet have a car – unlike every other parent of the other nine – or that she carried Henry on her shoulder back to the bus and up the eight flights of stairs of their apartment each night by her lonesome.

The second Regina stepped into one of many nursery rooms with two little beds in each, Regina lighted up completely. Her son certainly had the best of the best of the best, lying in peaceful sleep, sucking on his thumb with his little brown bangs splashed over his forehead in the quiet, perfect little bedroom.

Regina stepped over to the tiny bed, admiring her little boy for a minute before very carefully drawing him up onto her shoulder so gently that he didn't even stir himself awake. Carefully, Regina stood and gave Belle a smile on her way back down the hall.

Watching the exhausted, sad mother go, Belle frowned.

Only moments after Regina had gone, Belle walked past the sleep hall, monitored closely by four staff members at all time. Humming to herself, she waltzed up the stairs to Mary Margaret's personal office, finding the pixie-haired brunette relaxing on the couch. While Mary Margaret was in her late forties, she still looked quite vibrant from a life of enjoyable work. She certainly did love caring for babies, but why had Mary Margaret taken on Regina's child? It certainly seemed like a troubled little family, and not the sort that the expensive business usually saw.

Belle walked over to the couch and sat down across from the woman of the mansion herself, and a close friend as well. "Mary?" Belle asked curiously. "I know this may not be my place, but ... that mother … Regina? She looks awfully sad behind her eyes if you don't mind me saying so."

"Well I _do_ mind," Mary Margaret smirked, dropping her head back onto her couch an audible thud: "Ow."

Belle snorted.

"I've just ... built everything I do around caring for little children who need it, and I don't pry. Neither should you. She can afford it here, and that’s all that should matter for the business."

Belle nodded: "I know."

"I'm not one to judge." Upon hearing her boss's insistence Belle raised a brow and Mary Margaret chuckled: "Well sure, I judge my daughter's life choices, but she's my only child. What do you expect? I'm no saint."

"Well … what does Regina do?"

Mary Margaret closed her eyes, trying to smile but finding herself unable: "Anything she needs to do for her son, that's what. Now no more prying. Off you go - there's payroll to finish, isn't there?"

Belle groaned: " She just seems like such a mystery, and I just wish there was more we could do for Regina, that's all."

Mary Margaret picked up her head, sighing: "Me too, believe me."

 

 

***

 

 

Emma was on her way home the next day when she groaned in frustration. She had meant to stop by her mother's that morning but forgotten, and she knew her mother would never let it go if she didn't stop by at some point on her birthday.

"Fucking birthdays," Emma muttered to herself, picking up the sandwich she hadn't had time to eat during work hours. She messily brought it to her mouth, dropping some of it on the leather passenger seat. "Clumsy fucking ..."

She drove with half a sandwich in her hand until she reached her parent's street, slowing considerably when she noticed a woman carrying her child in her arms down the open street. It was a street that had no sidewalk on account of the rich neighbourhood and the fact that everyone strolled around in a Mercedes or something equally lavish. The fact that a mother on her own was walking down the street at night with a baby on her shoulder startled Emma. It was an unusual sight, so she slowed to a stop just beside the woman and child and set down her messy sandwich. She cleared her throat and wiped her hand on her expensive dress pants. "Excuse me? ... Are you okay?"

The woman slowed but didn't stop. Didn't duck down or turn. "Yes, thank you." She just kept on walking.

But when Emma looked closer she noted the exhaustion in the woman's steps and that the bag on her other shoulder looked too heavy to be safe for the woman's back. Something about it all bothered Emma to the point where she parked her car along the street and hopped out, all but chasing after the independent mother.

"Hold on! Wait!"

When the brunette finally stopped at the sound of dress shoes clicking on the pavement, Emma finally caught up and rounded the stubborn woman only to catch sight of the most stunning features she'd ever seen in her life in the pale glow of the street lights. Emma forgot what she was about to say.

Regina’s eyes met green, and suddenly something shifted. There was something that shook her about the intrusive blonde. They both forgot everything until little Henry hiccupped – half asleep – and interrupted their moment.

"I ... I'm Emma."

"Regina," the brunette finally smiled, giving her son a little kiss on his cheek while he laced his arms shyly around his mother's neck. "And this is my son, Henry."

Henry hiccupped again, and Emma smiled brightly, drawing Regina's attention down to her perfect teeth and shining smile. But Regina tried not to stare, trying to push past initial attractions to get back to real life. She forced herself to snap back into the moment.

"Is there something I can do for you? A reason why you stopped your car to run after me, perhaps?"

Emma scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "Yeah ... I'm sorry, I didn't stop because ... I ... I mean, I only saw you like, shielded with your bag or whatever. From behind."

Regina's right eyebrow shot up perfectly and Emma put her hands out and clarified.

"No, no, not like that! I'm just saying I didn't stop to ... creep you out or anything! I mean, I probably wouldn't have stopped if I knew you were _this_ pretty because it would come off … a little ..."

Regina scoffed and little Henry hiccupped again, yawning on his mother's shoulder.

Emma wanted to drop her forehead into her palm, but persevered. "I mean, you must get weirdos staring at you all the time is what I mean." Then Emma went white - her attempts only making things worse.

"You have no idea."

"No, please ... I know everything I'm saying is terrible - I swear I'm not always like this."

"Look, as lovely as this is ..." Regina started, already starting again on her way toward Mary Margaret's.

"No! Please - I'm sorry. I just saw you walking on this road with no place to walk, and I though that it could be really dangerous. I just wanted to help. I still do! I swear, I can be really nice."

Regina sighed: "Then you could let me get to work, please and thank you."

"Could I at least escort you to wherever you're going or something?"

Regina shifted her weight and slipped Henry onto her other hip, shooting Emma a disbelieving look: "You expect me to put myself and my little boy in the car with some stranger who stalked me down the street? Just how stupid do you think I am?"

Then Emma's humorous grin slipped out: "Well, it's not _smart_ to walk your baby down the middle of the street."

Regina smirked despite herself, rolling her eyes to try and erase her own reaction, but it was too late. Emma knew her humor was dark, and the blonde latched on to what little she was given.

"Come on, I only have a firearm and a knife in the trunk."

Regina pinned her with a look and another arched eyebrow, fighting herself not to smirk again.

"And maybe some rope and a shovel ..."

"Okay, I get it. You're cute, but I'm not getting in the car with you, so thanks but no thanks. I'm just headed to that house anyway, so you don't have to sleep lightly tonight. You can even watch me somehow stumble my way to safety."

With that, Regina was off, and all Emma could do was watch her go: "Wait, so that's it?"

"That's all she wrote," Regina called over her shoulder, chuckling to herself when she felt Henry waving to the woman behind her. "Don't encourage her, Sweetheart."

Emma watched in disbelief as Regina walked only three more houses down, and turned up to _her mother's_ house. Regina's child went to her mother's in-home daycare? Emma's jaw dropped and yet she still couldn't erase the smile that had slipped onto her lips after her conversation with the whirlwind of a woman who had taken her breath away.

Emma smirked to herself after walking back to her Mercedes, glad she'd thought to put her hair up into a bun because of the evening's heat. She turned on the car and the air conditioning and sat there in her women's suit - tie and all - staring down her mother's house with a lop-sided grin.

"She thinks I'm cute."

 


	2. Tricked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina shed some more light on their respective lives, and there might be some flirty texting ...

 

 

"Absolutely positively NOT," Mary Margaret gasped, glaring down at her daughter who sat guiltily on her couch. "And on my birthday! Damnit, Emma! Why did you even come here if you were just going to antagonize me?"

Earlier that evening, Emma had watched Regina enter and leave her mother’s daycare center, ducking in her car to hide from Regina so as not to further upset the woman. And yet, only ten minutes later, Emma had managed to thoroughly upset her mother. On her mother's birthday, no less.

Guilty on her mother’s couch, Emma slouched: "Sorry. I just ... was curious about her. I’m sorry I asked."

"Why is everyone so curious about her?" Mary Margaret hissed, causing Emma's ears to perk.

"Everyone? Who's everyone?"

"First Belle, then you ... who's next? My one-handed mailman?"

Emma rolled her eyes: "Mom, I'm sorry. Look, I just asked you what her deal is because she seems like she's fallen on hard times."

"Oh, and I had it easy, being pregnant with you at seventeen, did I?"

"Mom," Emma grumbled. "You have dad. That's different."

"How do you know Regina doesn't have a Daddy of her own?"

Emma made a face. "Ew, Mom. Don't ever say that again. That's ... it doesn't mean what you think."

"Just don't embarrass me," Mary Margaret said seriously, pointing her finger out angrily at her daughter. "Do NOT do anything to humiliate that poor girl like invade her privacy or anything of the sort. I know how determined you get when you see a pretty girl, Emma."

"Mom, that's not fair."

"Emma, I'm _very_ serious. If you upset that woman, I'll have your head."

"If that's a threat, I can file for a restraining order," Emma teased, knowing very well that her mother did not appreciate her taste in humor. So before Mary Margaret could explode, Emma stood up and opened her arms to her mother. "Hey, I'm sorry, Mom. Really. I'm sorry. And happy birthday. I'm sorry my birth was so terrible."

Mary Margaret pouted exaggeratedly on her daughter's shoulder: "You should be, you little pest."

"I know. I'm the worst," Emma smiled, wondering if she should ever tell her mother that she got her awful sense of humor from HER.

"All lawyers are the worst," Mary Margaret grumbled, reluctantly holding her aggravating daughter back. "Just please, Emma ... if you see her again, please just let her go on with her day, will you? She's been through enough as it is. Don’t seek her out."

"Okay, Mom," Emma chuckled, giving her mother another big squeeze. "I get it, I get it."

"Good. That a girl. Now aren't you going out with some of your colleagues this weekend?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Maybe wear something ... a little more feminine, Hunny."

"Aaand that's my cue to leave. Thanks Mom."

"Emma, I just mean maybe a nice dress or something!" Mary Margaret called after her daughter as Emma led her way down the large marble stairs.

"Got it - wear a men's coat next time!"

"Emma - just leave your hair down for once! You look so pretty, Sweetheart!"

"Got it - buzz cut! Bye, Mom!"

And with that, Emma hurried out, leaving her mother's gift in their mailbox - a diamond-encrusted watch her mother had been dreaming of for ages. She chuckled to herself and hurried down the steps to her car, forcibly putting all thoughts of a certain beautiful brunette from her mind.

 

 

***

 

 

That Saturday, Regina’s morning shift was a nightmare. She'd been groped twice and leered at more times than she could count, and it was only ten in the morning. She had opted to take the early shift that Saturday because she was taking Henry to a special show later that day and she had planned to make a whole evening of it with her little boy. The shift, however, was less and less appealing. The place was filling up with rich businessmen who felt they owned the entire world - women included. Six men had already asked what else she had on offer and each time the questions had made her feel sick to her stomach. Stripping was bad enough. She couldn't imagine selling away the one form of intimacy she had left with herself.

Interrupting her thoughts, one of her co-workers walked up to her. "G, table two wants you," Ruby grinned mischievously, waltzing past Regina with a wriggle of her chest. It made Regina smile at times, how much Ruby seemed to enjoy putting on a show for others. Unlike Regina, Ruby was working there because she enjoyed the work. She was a self-professed exhibitionist who enjoyed flaunting her body and seeing others lust after it.

Regina put on her best social smile as she headed over to the table requesting her with an extra sway to her hips that seemed just subtle enough to lure tips.

"Gentlemen," Regina smiled, wearing only a halter shirt and short shorts along with the mandatory and ridiculous set of heels. Her black halter top swept down from her chest and revealed only the bottom of her abdomen as she'd found that she was paid more if she started with an iota of mystery. Her black shorts kept more secrets, but they were a perfect fit - snug in all the right places. And just dark enough to fit her club persona - "The Evil Queen" as she was known to the regulars.

"Damn," one of the men laughed, eagerly taking in the woman's body with his eyes while others hooted and hollered openly at Regina’s body. Regina fought the urge to roll her eyes and kept a tight smile on her lips.

"We want a dance," another businessman said seriously, slipping two hundred-dollar bills onto the counter. "A private dance."

As tempted as she was to take the cash, Regina knew what money like that implied. She shot him a look she fought to keep civil. "That's too much for a dance. I don't take tips like that."

"You don't? ... And here I thought I was just being generous."

Too generous. Regina looked around the table and settled on a frank approach if she were going to get through the afternoon without any incidences.

"I can't accept that because of what it implies, and I don't do those things. I can go over the prices with you since it's obvious no one else has, but you _must_ know that’s too much for a private ten-minute dance. Maybe some other girls do that kind of thing, but not me. You can look but you can't touch me."

"You don't understand," the man smirked, "The dance isn't for me, Sweetheart. I’m Dennis, and these are some of the guys from the office. The dance is for my new associate, and trust me when I say they're in need of a little dance. This is just to make sure you take care of 'em right."

Regina took another long look down at the money and considered that the man might be speaking honestly. "Alright ... it's for a dance - _just_ a dance?"

"If you can keep my associate in a room in back with you for at least ten minutes, that money's yours, Sweetheart."

Regina took in a long breath and let out an even longer sigh, straightening her shoulders and tucking the money into the strap of her shirt. "Fine. Which one of you has this magical ten-minute dance then?"

They all grinned and Regina started to worry.

"They'll be here any minute. I'll send 'em back, don't worry," the cocky man smirked, giving Regina a wink that made her hate herself for taking his money.

Regardless, she shrugged and headed to the back hall where she informed one of the security staff that she'd be waiting. Regina walked into the room and ran her fingers through her hair as she shut her eyes and reminded herself why she did any of the things she hated - for her little baby. She took a deep breath in and exhaled evenly, hoping desperately that she wouldn't have to dance for some touchy pervert that wouldn’t obey her rules.

She only had to worry for another two minutes before there was some commotion at the curtained wall by the corridor. When Regina turned to see the customer pushed through the curtains, she couldn't believe what she saw.

There with a blindfold on and a confused smirk stood the strange blonde woman who had tried to help her on the street just days ago. Emma, was it? And she was standing there - definitely out of place in the expensive suit and masculine dress shoes she wore. The Rolex on her wrist spoke of her affluence and the lop-sided, goofy smile spoke of the woman's obliviousness for exactly where she was.

"Ned," Emma laughed. "Come on, what the hell? ... Can I take this off now or what?"

Regina just blinked in disbelief. Emma had been led from work on her lunch break to a strip club? Was she a lesbian and the men she worked with were just trying to get a rise out of her? Regina couldn't figure how the blonde might take the situation so she thought of what to say.

"Okay you fucking creep, I'm taking this off - losing the bet or not," Emma warned, pulling off the ridiculous tie-turned-blindfold to blink dumbly at the sight before her. Was that ... the woman from the street who had been carrying a little kid? And was she ... wearing a skimpy outfit with a pole and chair behind her? "Wh ... Where the hell am I?"

Regina worried momentarily when Emma turned back the way she came, calling out to the blonde: "Wait." She hated herself for thinking of the money, but she needed it so badly.

Emma turned back, frowning, taking in Regina's sparse wardrobe and her surroundings, realization dawning on her. "Oh my god ... they didn't."

When Emma went white with a mix of emotions, Regina could almost feel the hurt coming off of the blonde. She felt she needed to say something, so she opted for honesty. "Someone out there asked for a dance for a new associate, and ... well, he said he would pay if I could keep you in here for ten minutes. I ... I didn't know it was you. If I knew they were doing this to embarrass you, I guarantee I wouldn't have accepted."

Regina looked down, feeling shame about her profession as she often did.

Emma noted it and felt guilty herself. "No ... I don't mean it's horrible to be here or anything. I just ... Ned knew I was trying to stay in the closet for work. I have no idea why he thought this would be so funny. It might have been this prick I work with who set the whole thing up." She noticed the folded bills in Regina's shirt strap and cringed. "I hope the money wasn't too offensive. Or ... you know, insinuating."

"I just don't understand why he didn't choose anyone else here who might have done more for the money."

Emma understood immediately - Regina wasn't like some of the girls who pulled tricks on the side. She nodded, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Yeah ... he uh ... he might have overheard me go on about this brunette that you ... kind of resemble a little ..."

Was Emma almost smiling? Blushing even?

Regina couldn't help but let out a choked breath of laughter. "You don't say."

"If he knew it was actually you, he would just fucking _flip_ ... he can never know," Emma chuckled, shrugging. "I'm sorry. I can just sit in here. What, do we have like another five minutes or something? At least one of us should profit from his fucking perverted plan."

Regina felt awful that she _could_ really use the money. "No ... you can go. I wouldn't blame you. They're just going to tease you forever if you stay, I'm sure. I know his type."

Emma smiled sadly: "Sorry to hear that."

Regina couldn't believe the closeness she felt with a woman so unknown to her, wondering why she felt such an affinity for the tight-laced blonde who represented everything she hated about the world. There was just something about the woman that gave Regina tingles she couldn’t – and didn't want to – ignore.

"Hey, thanks. For not ... I don't know."

Emma nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'm just sorry you work here at all."

Regina looked down.

"I don't mean it like that. I get that you're doing this for your kid, but you're a lot better than all this. Trust me, I'm a good judge of character."

Regina scoffed: "Your lovely friends out there beg to differ."

"Co-workers," Emma clarified with a bite to her tone that told Regina there had been other misunderstandings in the past. "Not friends."

"Well, you're better than all THAT," Regina offered sincerely. "Your workplace seems like a real catastrophe."

"We're lawyers. We're all awful. Trust me."

Regina snorted: "You've got to be kidding me. You're a lawyer?" When she laughed down at her feet, she slowly picked her head up and smiled in earnest at the smile she saw shining back at her, even in the dark red glow of the room. "Well ... thanks. Emma, is it?"

Emma nodded: "Any time, R'gina."

It was difficult not to smile at the special way Emma seemed to pronounce her name. Regina was so endeared by it she couldn't have corrected it if she tried.

"Hey, lecture your friends out there for me, will you? Or maybe I can have Todd throw them out for you."

Emma laughed, turning to the curtain but quickly turning back. "Hey, if uh ... if any of those guys at that table give you any trouble ... you let me know and I'll sort them out."

"This club has a bouncer paid to do that job. I'll be okay."

"But does it have a lawyer?" Emma teased, her heart beating quicker when Regina walked over to her innocently and yet with the most beautiful expressive, emotive eyes she'd ever seen.

"Don't worry, Dear. I'm known around here as the Evil Queen," Regina smirked. "Nobody fucks with the queen."

 

 

***

 

 

After ducking out of the club that day very early and ignoring most of the troublemakers at work, Emma made it back to her place and masturbated feverishly to the thought of Regina. The woman's attitude was an aphrodisiac on its own, and the confidence that oozed out each moment she wasn't too busy being ashamed of herself was utterly intoxicating. Emma was enthralled.

As much as she wanted to return to the club after that day, she didn't want to disrespect Regina or risk - heaven forbid! - catching Regina naked on stage. She didn't think she could survive humiliating that perfect creature. The thought of seeking out Regina crossed her mind a number of times the next week, but she stayed cool and collected about the situation until Thursday when a text took her by complete surprise.

\-----

**Emma? This is Regina. Why didn't you tell me your mother was Mary Margaret?**

\-----

Emma stared at the text, imagining that Regina had stumbled across one of hundreds of pictures of her that her mother kept around the house. But still, Emma was left wondering how in the hell Regina had gotten her phone number. Damn. Or should Emma have been worried? Uncertain, Emma typed back.

**\-----**

**Yeah, well, I didn't think it was the time. How did you get this number anyway?**

**\------**

**Your mother gave it to me.**

**\------**

**Oh god.**

**Why???**

**\------**

**Relax, I didn't tell her the whole story. I told her I'd met you on the street and wanted to thank you for offering me a ride.**

**\------**

**Well, in fairness, you offered me one too ...**

**\------**

When Regina didn't respond, Emma read back her own text and cringed.

**\------**

**Sorry I didn't mean it like that. Let me make it up to you? I have a really shitty sense of humor.**

**\------**

**I have tougher skin than you must think. Do you know what kind of crap I have to put up with at work?**

**\------**

**Still sorry. It was supposed to be a joke. And I don't want you to deal with that with me.**

**\------**

When Regina didn't get back to her, Emma remembered she didn't have to be so ashamed. She reminded herself of the brunette's surprisingly dark sense of humor and sent another text of her own.

**\------**

**To make it up to you, I'll let you give me that dance. I won't resist this time if you really, really want.**

**\------**

**Smooth.**

**\------**

Emma smirked, her heart racing at Regina's quick responses and even quicker wit.

**\-------**

**It will be hard but I'll try to keep from hating it too much.**

**\-------**

**How flattering. Not sure how you'd manage. Wouldn't you rather one of those lawyer friends in your lap?**

**\-------**

Emma scoffed with disgust, typing back while laughing to herself in her empty apartment.

**\-------**

**Eew, that's so gross. Now you put that gross image in my head I'll never get to sleep. Thanks a lot. What a fucking nightmare.**

**\-------**

**What if I told you what I'm wearing?**

\-------

Emma looked around her place as if someone would catch her salivating at the last text she'd received, eagerly typing back and trying to keep the conversation flowing in that exact direction.

\-------

**It might … yeah.**

\-------

On the other side of town, Regina was smirking down at her own phone, wondering if Emma was aroused or simply trying to play it cool. Regina herself didn't know why she was flirting with a woman like Emma, but it was so much fun just talking with her. Regina had found from a young age that she was attracted to both men and women, but she never went for Emma's type. The rich type never did anything for her, thinking the world owed them something. With the hell Regina had been through in her life, she knew a different sort of reality.

Regina looked down at her phone and promised herself she wouldn't push it too far, but she'd been so lonely since Henry was born that she told herself she deserved at least a little fun. And it was the first time she'd actually felt aroused for another person since Henry's biological father had taken off – attempts made and never successful. Newly determined, Regina rolled onto her stomach in her moderately-sized twin bed and shot off another text with a smirk. A humorous tease.

\-------

**A full flannel set with wool socks and night cap.**

\-------

She couldn't help but snort at her own obvious lie, laughing when she received Emma's quick response.

\-------

**Ooh, that's the stuff baby. Tell me there's an old ratty robe over all that.**

\-------

**Only the rattiest.**

\-------

**Mm vixen.**

\-------

Regina looked over to Henry's crib which was just across the hall from her small room and sighed. As much as she was tempted to call Emma and flirt over the phone, she reminded herself that such a thing wasn't meant to be. If Emma understood more about her life, they wouldn't even be flirting. Regina knew she was just a cheap thrill to a woman like Emma, and yet talking to the beautiful lawyer was still so exciting. Regina groaned at the conundrum and rolled onto her back, distracted when she felt her phone buzz in her hand.

\-------

**Thanks for not teasing too much. It's been a long time for me. It's pretty embarrassing.**

**And I like talking to you.**

\-------

Regina smiled at the glow of Emma's words from her screen, wondering why life had to throw her such painful curve balls. She really liked talking with Emma too, but the likelihood of anything working between the two of them was laughable. They were both such different people from different walks of life.

Regina sighed to herself and looked over at Henry's crib again, listening to her son's quiet, rhythmic breathing. She closed her eyes for a few long moments and relaxed herself. She looked back down at her phone dejectedly, trying to convince herself that finding romantic love with another person one day - somehow - was still possible, even if it couldn't be with Emma.

\-------

**Me too. Goodnight.**

**\-------**

**Night Regina.**

**\-------**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loved seeing a nice bundle of comments from the first chapter - I see there's interest which is great. I have lots of chapters written already and they just need to be edited. Please comment if you like the story - it keeps me motivated to keep posting regularly! Thanks :)


	3. Problems

 

Regina was at work the next Saturday, taking drink orders when she felt a hand on her wrist. She slyly tugged her arm back and turned flirtatiously - as she was supposed to do - to see none other than Dennis there at the next booth with two friends. She clenched her teeth and forced a smile at the man who had set Emma up the week before. Unfortunately, she had a very good idea of exactly what was about to happen, so she finished the drink order for the table over, and then stepped over to tend to Dennis's table. It was a small table that sat only two other men - all of which were ogling her. Being more curt than charming.

"What can I do for you today? Drinks?"

The man raking his eyes over her – Dennis – combed a manicured hand over his perfectly coiffed hair and smirked. "How much for a lap dance, Sweetheart?"

Regina's heart sank, knowing Emma would see her differently after Dennis had his stories to tell. There could be no refusing, but she adjusted her price for scum. "Fifty for a one-way song, three minutes. No touching."

Dennis balked, laughing aloud: "Wow, is that all?"

"You and your friends were willing to pay two hundred the last time. What's it to you?" Regina asked in as sexy a way as she could manage while she just wanted him gone. She hoped the club manager wasn't around to see her treatment of a customer. Her sass couldn't be helped when the customer was so pretentious and irritating and potentially aggressive.

Dennis grinned: "That was for my uh ... my friend. But I heard she didn't mind hanging out back with you, so ... thought I'd give you a go myself, but you should know, Sweetheart, I'm _fully_ willing to take a nice dance with you. Maybe two, huh? A hundred should cover it. Maybe tips if you’re good."

Regina nodded, unable to smile at the mention of Emma talking about their time together. She had to wonder if Emma had really talked about it or if Dennis had assumed or was simply teasing her. Regina pushed her shoulders back and kept what pride she had left as she shrugged all that off. If she were going to dance for the creep, she couldn't be thinking of Emma anyway. "Fine, follow me."

The other men cheered oddly for him, and Regina did her best to ignore everything until she walked around back, handing the drinks order to another girl before shooting Todd the bodyguard a very knowing look down the hall. Todd was a softie who took great care to protect the girls at the club, as big and intimidating as he seemed to customers. And whenever Regina shot him a look like that, he knew he would likely be intervening. All the girls had to do was call Todd to have him supervise a dance if the customer was getting handsy, but if he was given a heads-up, he could be closer when she called.

Regina entered an empty room and turned to the curtain to see Dennis enter, leering at her and pulling said curtain closed.

"This had better be a full fucking dance for a hundred bucks."

"Shut up and sit down."

Dennis scoffed: "Is this how you talk to all the guys?"

"My stage name is the Evil Queen," Regina snapped, giving Dennis a little shove into his chair. "What do you think?"

Dennis laughed to himself: "Jesus, you're really something, aren't you?"

"Do you want the dance or not?"

"Yeah ... hell yeah, I do."

"Well I don't dance well if you're gonna talk through the damn thing so sit there like a good little boy and we'll both get through this just fine," Regina snapped again, always dominating when she felt her most vulnerable. "No touching. Or else."

"Or else what?" Dennis leered, gazing from Regina's sexy, stylishly uneven bob down to her stiletto black heels.

From outside the curtain, Todd's voice distracted Dennis from the sight of Regina preparing for the dance: "Or else I get to throw you outta here, Buddy. Hard."

Regina smiled to herself, turned away from Dennis. She so loved Todd. He was like the big brother she never had. Though she often was able to stop any

Preparing herself mentally, Regina let the intro of the song take her over. _'I walk in this bitch like a mothafuckin' villain ...'_

At the first beat of the song, Dennis was already feeling impatient to have Regina in his lap, but when she started to sway and glared at him over her shoulder, he was instantly entranced. There was something about a sexy woman knowing exactly how indescribably hot she was and owning it that silenced an audience.

As she made her way over to him, he sat back in the chair and put his hands up as if to signify he wouldn't try to touch her. Still, she felt no better dancing for one of Emma’s work associates. If she had turned him down, he would definitely have complained, and her shifts could have been pulled. Maybe, she started to think as she stepped over to the arrogant asshole, she should have demanded more in the hopes he would have looked elsewhere.

Rhythmically, Regina let herself settle into his lap, leaning back against him and then withdrawing just as quickly. He was groaning when she stood to her feet and bent at the waist, moaning when she turned and straddled him instead. He was only getting harder the more danced on him, gritting his own teeth when her perfect cleavage lingered just inches above his face.

When she turned and sat with her legs between his, leaning back against him, stretching her arms up over his shoulders, Dennis smirked - the sight of her chest just too appetizing to sit back and watch.

From outside the room, Todd was listening as best he could with loud, thumping music from the main stage, standing on-guard and nodding to another girl who walked past with a gentleman-in-toe when he heard something that always clutched at his big, soft heart.

"TODD!"

Instantly, Todd had the curtain pulled back, glaring angrily at the man Regina was dancing for - the man who sat stunned with a red mark on his face and his hand covering the area. Wincing from what looked to have been a slap, putting him in his place for touching her.

Todd tried not to smile at Regina, always impressed that she had never failed to defend herself.

It took Todd about two seconds to pull the guy from his seat and push him up against the wall, pinning the guy’s wrist to his upper back in an agonizing grip.

"Hey Buddy ... you like putting your hands on people? Well I like that, too. Why don't me and you have a little talk about respect."

Dennis howled at the guy's grip on him, gritting out: "I'm a fucking lawyer! ... Get your hands off me!"

"I've got this," Todd winked to Regina, pulling the guy out of the room and leaving Regina by herself, standing in one heel and feeling as vulnerable as she'd ever been. What was she doing with her life? She'd been groped before at work, but that dance had irked her so much - deep down - that she cut her shift short. Certainly seeing her little boy could lift her spirits as it always seemed to do.

 

 

***

 

 

When Regina showed up at Mary Margaret's mansion, she had done everything she could to dry stubborn tears and cool her swollen eyes, but when Mary Margaret opened the door herself, the unfortunate sight was too obvious to hide. Regina had been crying.

"I need to pick up Henry early today," Regina said as evenly as she could, walking past Mary Margaret when she was invited in.

No matter what Mary Margaret said to try and talk with the upset mother, Regina insisted she was fine and scooped Henry up in her arms and left with few words. She had no marks on her body, but Mary Margaret still feared the worst, solidifying that what Regina did for a living deeply irked the single mother.

Mary Margaret watched Regina walk slowly down the driveway from the front window, frowning when she saw Regina hugging the sleepy boy tightly to her chest. Quite possibly crying into the shoulder of Henry's little shirt. Her conscience gripping her, Mary Margaret sent a text out to her husband.

\-------

**That mother I told you about, David, she's here. She's very upset and it's dark out. I don't want her to walk home like this. Are you almost home? Can you drive her?**

\-------

**Nope sorry. I'll ask Emma to help.**

\-------

Mary Margaret gasped to herself, not wanting to push the two women any closer as the two of them seemed to be a train wreck waiting to happen. She typed as quickly as she could, making mistake-after-mistake amidst her panic and finally sending out a sensible message.

\-------

**No no David. Don’t do that! If you can't I'll ask Belle.**

**\-------**

**Oops sorry. Already asked. Hey does Emma know this lady? She responded really fast and she's usually asleep by now or just ignoring texts from dear old dad but she's already grilling me for info.**

**\-------**

Mary Margaret face-palmed and groaned to herself. _Great_. She knew her daughter would gladly hurry over to be Regina’s knight in shining armour, and Mary Margaret was worried about the two ladies becoming romantically involved. She didn’t feel Emma was ready to support a single mother or a woman with a past like Regina certainly had, and she didn’t feel Regina would be capable of supporting her daughter, either. It just didn’t make any sense to Mary Margaret, but she knew one thing that had her groaning her way into a belly flop on the couch. If Emma had set her mind to charming Regina – which it seemed she had – the wheels were already in motion. When Emma Swan involved herself with a woman, she could be unforgivably endearing. _Just great._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments always appreciated! Wonder what will happen next ...  
> (Long chapter next.)


	4. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina bond a little, and we hear some of Regina's story.

 

Regina stood at the bus stop, breathing into her son's sleeping shoulder and calming herself as best she could. There were days when she questioned what she did, but when she felt the ease in her son's little body, she couldn't help but remember exactly why. Henry was happy and he was safe. No matter what indecencies Regina suffered at work, Henry never had to experience the guilt or shame or abuse, and they were nearly able to afford rent at a new place with all the tips Regina had been earning. Her countless hours of practice and immense dedication to her job was what made her a favourite at the club, and she intended to keep it that way.

Regina hugged onto her son tighter, loosening her arms a little when his little body wriggled uncomfortably in his sleep.

When the sound of a roaring motor came from up the street, Regina stepped back from the curb to keep her and her son safe, imagining someone was out drunk driving. Who roared around residential areas like that at one in the morning? _Only a complete lunatic._

Regina stood with the night breeze cooling her tears on her cheeks when the car stopped at the side of the road just short of the bus stop and none other than Emma popped out of the driver's seat. Regina held Henry to her in a mix of confusion and wariness. _Is that …?_

"Emma ...? What're you doing here?"

"My dad said you were upset - he doesn't know we know each other. He just asked for someone to help you. I rushed right over. I’m so glad I caught you – what the hell happened?"

Regina looked down to see her son waking up at all the loud conversation, and while Henry was used to screeching cars and loud voices in his sleep, something about the pitch of his mother's voice rattled the little boy. His mother's heart beating quickly against his didn't help his peaceful sleep either.

"Language," Regina said quietly, shushing her little boy and kissing his hair before looking across at Emma. "I'm fine. And your father has no right to call on my behalf. I didn't ask for this."

Noting Regina's wet eyes and the way the woman was cradling Henry protectively in both her arms, Emma took a deep calming breath and apologized.

"I'm sorry. You're right. But I'm here now and ... I'm really worried, R'gina. You look really shaken up. Was it ..." Emma strategically lowered her voice: "Work? Did something happen today?"

"Your friend Dennis happened," Regina said angrily, seeing her bus from down the street and walking back to the bus stop, bouncing little Henry on her hip so he might get back to sleep for the ride home.

Emma saw red at the thought of her co-worker in some way hurting Regina - so angry she felt paralyzed, wondering just what the hell she would do that little creep when she realized the bus was stopping for Regina. "Wait! Wait - let me drive you home. Please. I’m not trying to insert myself, but you’re upset. I just wanna help."

"I'm fine, thank you. I can handle myself," Regina said, ignoring Emma’s saviour complex and stepping onto the bus to show her pass to the driver.

Unthinking, Emma also hopped onto the bus, digging into her pockets for change while Regina walked to the back of the bus. "Fuck!" she whispered to herself, finding nothing but a ten and a twenty-dollar bill. She made a face and asked the bus driver awkwardly: "Would you take a ten?"

Regina ignored whatever was happening at the front of the bus and kissed her son's cheek as she forced her breathing to slow to settle her child back to sleep. She closed her own eyes and just tried to think happy thoughts until the bus started moving again. Then, exhaustedly, she opened her eyes to see that Emma hadn't ditched the bus or taken the easy way out. Emma was persistent - perhaps as persistent and stubborn as Regina was herself. And she was walking over, down the narrow aisle. When Regina's heartrate picked up again, Henry woke up and wiped his little face on his mother's Old Navy cotton shirt, kicking his small feet against her loose jeans.

"Look, I can't help my instincts and that I ... care that you're okay. Please. Just let me talk to you," Emma said with the saddest eyes Regina had ever seen, uncaring of who overheard or thought her to be desperate.

Regina only noticed then that Emma was wearing sweatpants and an old college shirt - likely her pyjamas she hadn't taken the time to change out of before leaving her place. And Emma's hair was up in a loose ponytail instead of its usual bun. There was an air of vulnerability that Emma was sharing with Regina that opened the brunette up to honesty herself, scooting over a little and nodding for Emma to join her.

“Alright then.”

 

 

***

 

 

They didn't talk about Regina's day on the bus, because Emma could read the situation, and she could tell that it wasn't the place. She could also tell that little Henry would need some attention as he woke up fully. As he roused from his sleep at Mary Margaret’s, Henry noticed the blonde lady from a few weeks ago sitting beside him. He loved her long, pretty hair and her happy smile.

“Hey, Little Buddy,” Emma smiled helplessly, “I’m Emma.”

"Ma-ma," Henry repeated after hearing Emma introduce herself, unable to say the short e sound of her name and instead reinventing the first syllable to suit his ability for speech.

Emma shot Regina a look, noting Regina's discomfort with her son's name for her, smiling back at the boy. "Can you say ... Meemee?"

"Meemee," Henry giggled, looking up at his mother's face and putting his hands on her cheeks. "Mummy." Then he turned in her arms and looked over at Emma's face, smiling wide at _her_ smile.

Emma smiled at Regina, then, and lifted her hand as if to pet the child's little head. "May I?"

Regina nodded, and Emma pet the little boy's soft brown hair, grinning back at his thousand-watt smile. "Hey there, Little Man. You're not tired anymore, huh?"

Shy about the new person around, Henry cuddled in closer on his mother's shoulder, staring all the while at the curious blonde with wide eyes.

"He'll be fine," Regina said, patting a hand over his back in so soothing a manner Henry's excited eyes started to get heavy again - his comfortable spot and his mother's attention putting him back to sleep.

Emma watched the connection between mother and son and kept quiet for the rest of the ride so Henry could get some rest.

 

 

***

 

 

Getting off the bus together, Emma and Regina exchanged a glance on the curb just a block from Regina's apartment in near darkness. Regina was the first to speak.

"Emma ... thank you. For taking the bus with me. I'm sure you're tired and it's been a long day, and I appreciate the company, but maybe we should call you a cab."

Emma looked at the fussing baby in Regina's arms and stuffed her hands into her sweatpant pockets. "I uh ... I could help you up with him if you want. Or just ... make sure you get up okay. I don't have to come in or anything."

"This all very chivalrous, but unnecessary, I assure you. I do this every night on my own."

Emma tried not to show how sad she was hearing that so she nodded and looked at her feet. "Yeah ... well. I'd really like to see you again. And I know how you look at me ... but I'm not like Dennis. I'm not some person who thinks I can treat people like garbage. Any people. And yeah, I'm some shitty lawyer, but that wasn't even what I wanted. Life just ... turns out shit sometimes. But when I look at you, it makes me feel ... so many new things. It's hard to explain."

Regina's smile came naturally, lips turning up as Emma opened up to her.

"I probably sound like some stupid Romeo-wannabe at this hour spouting all this nonsense right outside your place, but ... seriously, R'gina. I wanna see you again. Even just for coffee or something. Or to see Henry - I'm not that great with kids, but it's just from lack of experience."

Regina chuckled.

"Or ... maybe I'm the worst. But hey, only time will tell."

Emma's uncertain shrug and derpy smile won Regina over. And maybe her comfort had something to do with Emma's touching little late-night speech. Either way, Regina relaxed significantly and nodded over to the apartment's entrance.

"Alright, you talked your way into a visit. Come on in."

Emma's eyes went wide in disbelief, but she wasted no time in following the tired brunette inside.

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

"Excuse the toys," Regina said over her shoulder as she let Emma into her apartment, having hiked up the eight floors with the blonde trailing closely behind. It was cute that Emma was panting like an idiot. Regina liked that.

"Oh my god ... what kind of fresh hell is this?" Emma whispered, closing the door behind them and locking it. "You WALK up eight flights of stairs with Henry every night?!"

"Oh, quit being such a baby," Regina teased quietly, excusing herself as she went to put Henry down in a small room across from the only other main room of the apartment.

While Regina was otherwise occupied, Emma took a shy look around and found that she liked what Regina had done with the small space. Everything seemed to be in a thoughtful place, and-

Suddenly Emma couldn't think. Was that a pole in the corner of Regina’s apartment?

"Do you want water or something? Coffee maybe?" Regina asked, walking into the main space to see what had Emma so distracted. "Well, you caught me. I practice."

Emma swallowed hard: "You ... just put in a pole? ... Is that safe?"

"You worry too much, Emma ... Charming, is it?"

"No, it's Swan. Long story," Emma chuckled. "I'm Emma Swan. And you are Regina ... Evil Queen?"

Regina smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Hardy har. No, it's Mills. Regina and Henry Mills. Happy to make your acquaintance."

Emma accepted the hand held out for her and shook it firmly, easing up when Regina looked surprised. "Wow, Miss Swan. Quite the grip on you. And here I thought you were out of shape, huffing up all those steps."

Then it was Emma's turn to laugh, reminding herself to keep it down for the baby. "I like to run and do weights. I am NOT an incline girl."

Regina braced both her hands on her hips: "Noted. Now, what can I get you? If you're cabbing, I suppose I can offer you some wine."

"Have any scotch?"

"Well, I do make cider, though it's quite strong."

"I'll take it," Emma accepted, the two of them moving over to the kitchen and speaking over their respective drinks before moving back to the sofa area where there sat two small loveseats and piles of Henry's toys littering the floor. After some small talk, Emma couldn't help but gesture to the ground. "Wow, the kid really likes princesses, huh?"

Regina chuckled herself, nodding: "Yeah, he's always just been head-over-heels for fairy tales of any kind. He loves _regal_ characters, it would seem, though I can’t imagine why. He just loves to play that he's saving someone."

"I like the idea of that, too, I must say, but my job didn't quite fill those shoes as I'd hoped."

Regina relaxed into her couch, eyeing Emma on the other: "And how is that?"

"Oh, you know. You go into a career having high hopes, and things don't quite turn out like you imagined."

"I have no idea what you mean," Regina deadpanned, breaking her grin with laughter after Emma laughed first.

It took another ten minutes of small talk on the couch before Regina caught Emma staring at the pole again, groaning exaggeratedly and then taking the woman’s hand and guiding her over. She brought Emma to the corner of the room with the sturdy pole so she could have a good, long look at it.

"Yes, this is a pole for dancing practice. Take it all in. Come one, come all."

"Hey, it's not some kind of freak show to me," Emma said honestly, leaving her drink on a small rounded coffee table that looked like it had been a hand-me-down for a handful of families in its life. She walked over to where Regina stood beside the pole and crossed her arms. "I love it. Actually, I've tried to learn pole dancing when I started university, but I never could learn. I have the upper body strength but I always just ... fell kind of flat. Never really got it."

Regina understood the sentiment. "I know what you mean."

"How did you learn?" Emma wondered aloud, unsure if it was an appropriate question, but unable to keep the question from pouring out.

"Well, I've always been a dancer. I started with ballet as a little girl, and then moved to hip hop and some contemporary stuff, but I've always danced. I actually only learned for Henry."

They both exchanged a look and Regina snorted out an awkward laugh.

"God, that sounds wrong. No, what I mean is that I had him at home for as long as I could when he was a baby, and once he was old enough, I started looking for work, but the hours ... I don't know. I unfortunately don't have a handy degree to use to find employment, so ... I tried my hand at waitressing, but that didn't go well. Nothing seemed to work or pay what I needed to … get a better living situation for him. Nothing was flexible enough for a new mom and nothing was paying the bills for how much he needed me here. I ... don't exactly have a great track record, I suppose."

Emma didn't inquire for the time being, allowing Regina to divulge only as much as she was comfortable telling.

"It's a boring tale on convenience, but ... that led me to hearing about … well. What I do now. It was an idea I had from a few of the girls I know from a woman’s group who helped teach me to pole dance out of self expression. From there, I ... had a few people comment that I looked like the real deal, so ... Well. I guess the rest is history. It actually only took about six months and I had a grasp of the basics. It wasn't so bad. I waited tables at another place and did some dancing at a hole in the wall for that half year period and then I found this more profitable place – nicer, if you can believe it – and I just threw myself into the ring. The money I get from pole dancing and private dancing ... I just thank my lucky stars that I found this place, as humiliating as it can be. It's ... it's more money than I ever thought I could make for him. Well, for us. Knowing that I'm setting me and my son up for a better future ... it's what keeps me at this job and keeps me practicing at all hours. Sure it's not great work, but ... it's the thing that's kept my head afloat. And kept diapers in the closet and food on the table, to be honest."

When she was finished talking, Regina turned to Emma with a look of complete surprise.

"Wow. I'm ... sorry. I don't know where that came from. I don’t typically talk about myself so much."

Emma was already watching her with great interest, smiling when Regina caught her eye: "Hey, I'm flattered. No need to apologize. It's nice to hear your story. Or, a piece of it at least."

"I guess I've been a little lonely for adult conversation," Regina admitted nervously, clearing her throat: "You know, adult conversation not circulating around my … physical attributes, that is."

Emma tried not to think about men harassing the woman at her side all night long. "I don't know how you do it ... I think I would just snap their dicks in half."

Regina laughed fully then, ignoring Emma's darker insinuations and gesturing to the pole: "I can show you a move, if you want."

"No, hey, I didn't say I suck at it to make you show me," Emma insisted. "It was stupid."

"Why not? It's a pole, you seem interested, and as you said, you have strength in your arms, so why wouldn't you be able to do it? I'll just show you something easy."

Emma clucked her tongue and shed her jacket. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Lady."

"You can just throw it on the couch," Regina explained when Emma had taken off the jacket and looked around the room aimlessly.

"Already trying to undress me, huh?"

"Get over here," Regina giggled of all things, instructing Emma to hold the pole and exactly how to spin around it, landing on her feet. It was, indeed, a simple move, but it took ten tries for Emma to grasp it. Once she did, Regina couldn't help but laugh at an extra made-up move Emma invented and still somehow mismanaged. Watching Emma act like a goof on the pole was so entertaining and perfect that Regina walked over and pulled Emma to her full height. Regina put her hands on Emma's shoulders, made eye contact with her and leaned in - both of them smiling and buzzing with a tense sort of chemistry that sizzled as they shared a first kiss that was unique for them both. It was a bizarre but entirely real moment in the small, quiet apartment.

The gentle, chaste nature of the kiss lasted for twenty seconds or so.

Soon after, Emma's hands came up to cradle Regina's head, and Regina's hands slipped down over Emma's arms, feeling for herself that the woman was - in fact - muscular. The kiss deepened with intimate closeness that was bizarre to feel so quickly, and then slowed and deepened again before Regina finally pulled back. She stared at Emma, licking her lips.

"I'm sorry if that was ... a little forward," Regina whispered, blinking up into Emma's darkened eyes. "I guess I am ... quite forward. I hope that's okay."

"Hey, I drove to find you in the middle of the night and then ditched my car to take a bus ride with you and then you started teaching me to pole dance. I think you initiating a first kiss is the least forward thing we've done tonight."

Regina smiled but couldn't find it in herself to step back from her place against Emma until she remembered what kind of life Emma led. What kind of life SHE led. She cleared her throat and backed up, wanting to slow things down. "I guess ... I think you're right. But it IS pretty late."

"Okay," Emma agreed, taking Regina's hands in hers and giving them a squeeze before walking over to the front door where they'd left their shoes. "But hey, you're not gonna ignore me if I wanna see you again, right?"

"I reserve the right to screen your texts," Regina kidded evilly, watching Emma sleepily do up her shoes, and adoring that Emma hadn't seemed tired until just then. She'd hid her exhaustion so well, and probably wouldn't have said anything if Regina hadn't said it first. That made Regina want to kiss Emma again, but she knew it was for the best that Emma leave. If not, she might have done some things they might have both regretted come morning.

When Emma looked up at her with another one of her dorky smiles, Regina melted from within.

"Kay, well ... thanks again for the cider and ... you're umm ... you're a really great dancer, from that move you showed me at least. Maybe I could watch you dance sometime. I mean! No, not dance like THAT ... just ... ballet or something. Whatever you wanna do ..."

"Again. Smooth."

Emma bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the look on Regina's face. She certainly was a mess around a particular brunette. "Yeah ... I get a little tongue-tied around you. Don't tell me you noticed?"

"No ... definitely not."

"Well, if you ever see me in court, trust me - you'll be flattered. I'm a very concise talker, and eloquent, actually, which just goes to show how nervous you make me."

Regina blushed.

"Have uh ... have a good night," Emma beamed back, giving a lame little wave and then backing her way out into the hall.

Not wanting to break her somewhat smooth exit from Regina's place, Emma figured out the address for herself by walking down the stairs and running down the sidewalk to look for street signs and running down the opposite sidewalk to check the apartment building number.

Regina watched it all from her window, chuckling to herself into her cider. She kept the window open, listening to Emma's footsteps and relaxing when Emma finally ended up flagging down a cab and hopping inside. Regina looked out to the night sky, closed and locked the window, and then emptied the glasses into the sink. On her way to her room, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Emma had left her jacket on the couch. Guiltily, Regina took it and walked to her bedroom, inhaling the woman’s scent with a little smile before walking to her bedroom and getting ready to sleep.

She would give the jacket back soon. She just wasn’t ready to address it just then. Instead, she sent a simple text as she was brushing her teeth, smirking at her own audacity.

\--------

**Next time you can just ask for my address.**

\--------

 It was only the next morning she woke up and saw Emma's texts back.

\--------

**And next time you can keep your eyes to yourself there, missy.**

**Hope you liked what you saw on the pole btw. Don’t be too jealous.**

\--------

Regina woke with a big smile, typing back quickly when she heard Henry stirring in his crib.

\--------

**Green with jealousy.**

**If you still want to see me, I'm off tomorrow just over an hour before I pick up Henry. Maybe we could grab something to eat together? I know a good sushi place.**

\--------

One minute later, she had her response.

\--------

**I'll be there.**

\--------

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved reading all of the comments and ideas about the story. Thank you for keeping me inspired. I really want to keep writing this one!


	5. The First Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emma and Regina have a first date, in which there is a first dance ... of sorts.

 

 

Regina met Emma the next day for sushi just three blocks from the club. It was late at night, but the restaurant was notorious for its late hours and friendly service, so it was often crowded well into the dark hours of night.

As soon as Emma stepped in, she found herself surprised by the number of patrons at just past eleven in the evening. She stepped in and immediately she recognized Regina's profile from across the room. The dark brown hair and olive skin tone gave Emma shivers of admiration: Regina was achingly beautiful.

Clearing her throat, Emma cut through the crowd and started to re-think her attire. It was a very relaxed environment in the restaurant equipped with a neon sign outside and an informal ordering service. Meanwhile, Emma had dressed for upscale, as sushi in her experience always had been an upscale atmosphere. She shed her suit jacket as she walked through a crowd of laughing students and folded it over her arm as she approached Regina's small table, uncertain as to how to introduce her entrance. Thankfully, Regina looked up at her before she had to, smiling.

"Emma, hi."

The simple welcome melted Emma from the inside out: "Hey."

As Emma took her seat, Regina took in the crisp appearance of the blonde and suddenly felt off about her own appearance. She only wore a V-neck t-shirt and jeans. She felt like a slob next to Emma's obviously custom-made pant suit, pristine white blouse and perfectly contained hair pulled back into a bun. Instead of feeling down more than she had to, Regina looked down to the menu and tried to remind herself that Emma hadn't dressed that way to make her feel unworthy. It was just how the young lawyer enjoyed clothing herself.

Noting how quiet and shy Regina seemed right away, Emma looked down to her clothes and realized that Regina didn't have the wealth she did for clothing, and it might be making the young mother self conscious. In an effort to relax Regina, Emma quickly unbuttoned the top two buttons of her shirt and went to work rolling up her sleeves.

"So ... what're you getting?" Emma asked with a smile, grinning a little wider when she could see Regina visibly loosen up with her easy alterations.

"Everything here is good. I'm not sure yet. Maybe we could split something."

"Well I don't know about you, but I get awfully hungry at eleven pm," Emma teased, meeting Regina's eyes at last and breathless at the intensity brewing there. "You ... look just ... beautiful."

Regina blushed, scoffing quietly to herself and folding in against her arms: "I don't know about that ..."

Emma's hand reached across the table and rested on Regina's left hand, stroking the back of it and lifting Regina's eyes to hers with the affectionate touch: "I do."

Together, they both relaxed and ordered some food and drinks as Regina carefully analyzed Emma’s perfect face with a little smile.

“I’m usually not one to pry into others’ personal lives, but what’s your story?” Regina asked plainly, her chin propped up in her hand.

Emma shrugged shyly and fidgeted a little: “I don’t know that it’s a _story_ per se … what do you want to know?” She loosened her shoulders a little as she looked back at Regina, her eyes as honest and sincere as Regina had ever seen.

Regina thought for a moment, wanting to be concise. “What’s the story behind your last name?”

“How much time do we have?” Emma chuckled, looking jokingly down at her watch and then rubbing her palms down over her legs before gathering her thoughts. “Okay … the very, very short story? … Here it goes.”

Regina waited patiently for Emma to speak, captivated by the way the professional blonde was delicately unfolding before her.

“My mom had me when she was seventeen, and she was … Well, she put me up for adoption, so … I was given to a different family and they named me. Then it wasn’t two weeks before my birth mom and dad fought to get me back. They realized they’d made a stupid mistake, fought back against their parents who had pressured them to get rid of me, and eventually got me back.” Emma took a deep breath. “And … well, that was all fine and good, but they renamed me Emma Charming, and I was named that until I was eighteen and researched for myself my original family, and found Odette and Derek.” Emma felt her eyes moisten somewhat, so she blinked it back, dropping her eyes to the table.

“Hey, you don’t have to do this,” Regina said suddenly, a warm hand reaching out to Emma’s fidgeting ones. Just feeling the soft comfort of Regina’s touch, Emma smiled. Just a little.

“It’s okay … just let me finish, okay? I’d like to.”

“Please.”

Emma nodded, forcing herself to look up into Regina’s eyes and happy when she did. She had never seen someone so emotive or involved when telling her difficult story. “Anyway, the very short version is that I bonded with them, and I loved them in my own way, and I wanted to honor them, so I changed my last name back to Swan. I mean, I talked with my birth mom and dad about it. I really needed to do that and they understood. I think they always figured I’d find my ‘prince’ some day anyway and change it, but … joke’s on them, huh?”

Regina smiled brightly at her: “That is quite the story. I’m flattered that you shared it with me.”

“You shared with me. I mean, it’s hard. I feel like we’ve both had our shares of long stories, but sharing them is … nice.”

“It is.”

They looked closely at one another for longer than Emma thought was possible before making things uncomfortable, but she didn’t. Looking into Regina’s eyes, it was a perfect – surprisingly intimate – moment.

Over the course of the next quiet few minutes, their food arrived.

Nervously, as they started into their food, Emma felt the need to confront something of her own. "I really hate to ask this, but ... it's kinda been killing me, so I think I have to."

Regina looked up nervously, waiting.

"What happened with Dennis?"

Regina sighed – was that why Emma wanted to ask her out? She wanted answers? Figuring simply giving them out was best, Regina sighed and answered honestly: "He came in, asked for a lap dance from me, and even after I told him he wasn't allowed to touch me, he decided it was his right to do to me whatever he wanted. Todd had to come in and pry Dennis off of me." Regina shrugged: "Some guys try to touch me - it wasn't the first time and it certainly won't be the last. That's just life."

"What?” Emma asked, feeling more herself again without Regina’s eyes cutting into her so lovingly. “That's just life?"

Regina slouched even further back into her seat.

"R'gina, no matter what your job is, there's never a reason it's okay for someone to touch you against your will," Emma balked, confused when she took in the posture of the defeated-looking woman sitting across from her. "I think what you do is really brave, R'gina, but to hear about you getting hurt ... it really fucking pisses me off. I think I'm gonna kill him."

Regina chuckled emptily to herself, sinking back against her seat and shrugging. "Fine, sure. So is that why you came?"

"No, no, I'm really sorry if that's how it came off," Emma apologized, turning her palms up and offering them to the brunette. "I'm sorry, R'gina. I just wanted to know how much fucking trouble Dennis is gonna be in with me is all. It's been on my mind a lot, but ... not as much as you've been, trust me."

"I doubt that very much ..."

"You really don't know how beautiful you are, do you?"

Regina sighed: "I know guys leer at me all day," she challenged, eyes cutting into Emma. "Is that what you mean? I'm hot, I know. I hear it often enough."

Yes, that too, Emma wanted to say. But instead, she read the situation and answered accordingly: "No, not like that. It ... kinda comes out when you smile. I mean you're _beautiful_. I've never spent time with a woman like you, R'gina."

"A woman like me?"

"Yeah, someone who's so unsure of her own natural beauty and someone so guarded about it. You just seem to … put up all these walls around you, and I wanna knock them down. I just wanna make you see how special you are. I just wanna … make you happy. I know I hardly know you, but something about you … it makes me want to be honest with you. About how you make me feel."

"So you mean you're not just in it for the free dances?" Regina quietly teased, letting out the briefest of smiles.

"Oh, is that the deal?" Emma teased back, whispering over the table: "Because if it's a dance or a smile, I'll take the smile."

Regina scoffed: "No you wouldn't. Don't be ridiculous."

"I would. Seriously."

"Emma, I see the way you look at me. I can tell you want me - I'm not blind."

"Okay, well maybe I look at you like that because you take my breath away. I just don't want you to think I'm only interested in you because you're 'hot' or whatever. Sure, that’s a part of it – I’m not gonna lie – but when you're not happy, I'm not happy, so it's more than that."

Regina thought for a minute and then clasped her hands over the table, pinning Emma with an analytical gaze. "So you're saying if I danced for you - and was _un_ happy - you wouldn't like it. You'd prefer to see me _happy_ than to have me half-naked and all over you _un_ happy?" She knew she was a good read of bodies and moods, so she would know if Emma were lying to her. The challenge seemed to be perfect for her insecure uncertainties. Not that Emma would take her up on such a ridiculous thing ...

"Yeah. I would. You wanna try me?"

Regina couldn't help but smile, and she saw Emma smile in return. "I don't wanna make a fool out of you, but yeah. Kind of. I'm not saying we can't spend time together, but I want you to know what I'm talking about."

"And I want YOU to see that not every person is like that, R'gina. Not everybody is only in it for a hot body and a sexy face. SOME people are interested in other people for their personalities and unique charms."

"You know that if you pass my little test, it's gonna score you points?"

"I'm counting on it," Emma grinned shamelessly, glad she could put yet another smile on Regina's face.

They were still laughing when the food came - Regina offering for them to go back to her place with it so she was still ready to pick Henry up in time. For the sake of time, Emma offered for them to go to her place as it was closer - a downtown high-rise apartment, of course. With plenty of wine and snacks should they get hungry again.

Reluctantly, Regina agreed, insisting on paying for both their dinners if Emma was going to have her over.

Together, they walked to Emma's car and Regina tried not to feel unworthy when it was a Mercedes Benz - new car smell and all.

It took only ten minutes for them to be at Emma's apartment door, Regina shifting on her feet at the very idea of Emma failing her test. She liked the blonde, and the idea of seeing the pure lust in Emma's eyes was making her feel uneasy. Then what would she do? Ease Emma out of her life? She didn't know how to feel, but she knew that she wanted to know either way.

"Do you have a chair with no armrests?" Regina asked the moment they were inside, and Emma turned to her with a little frown.

"You're really concerned about this, aren't you? That all I see in you is ... well, me, huh."

Regina shrugged: "I'm sorry, I am. But it's my job, Emma. It's what I see every day all day, and no one's been seriously interested in me for so long that I'm starting to doubt I ever had anything real in the first place."

"Wow, okay. Yeah, if that's what it takes for you to relax around me, then okay. Let's do this."

Regina found a dining room chair and brought it to an empty space of Emma's living area, gesturing for Emma to sit and explaining some rules. Emma wasn't allowed to touch her while she danced, and Regina was going to ask questions mid-tease. She was going to get the answers she needed.

Emma felt saddened by Regina's certainty that a person could only possibly be interested in her for sex, but agreed to go along with the challenge regardless. Soon it would be behind them and Emma would prove to Regina that she cared more about her happiness. She would prove it any way she could, and if Regina's choosing was a lap dance challenge, then Emma was okay with that.

It was only as Emma was sitting down in the seat nervously that she realized she'd never had a lap dance in her life. She couldn't help but snort to herself when she realized that.

"Something funny over there?" Regina asked from the kitchen, combing her hair into a ponytail. If she was going to do the challenge, she would need to see Emma at all times - no hair in her eyes.

"I uh ... I just realized this will be my first lap dance."

Regina's interest was piqued, looking over at the blonde sitting as relaxed as possible in the chair. "... Ever?"

"Yeah, pretty sad, huh?"

Regina cleared her throat and tried not to be turned on that she was Emma's first lap dance. Every part of her desired to enjoy the lap dance, but first she knew she had to prove something to herself - to them both. "No, definitely not sad. I find that attractive, actually."

Emma shrugged, rubbing her sweaty palms on her pants and letting out a sigh. "Whatever you say."

"Well, since this is your first, I'll take it easy on you."

Emma chuckled: "I don't think you taking it easy on me will make a difference. It's gonna be _you_ in my lap, so ..."

Regina smiled to herself, but forced it off her face when she rounded the open kitchen to stare down at Emma, steeling herself as she picked a song list from her phone and put the phone on the kitchen island.

"Often" by The Weeknd started playing and Emma visibly gulped at the ferocious look Regina had in her eyes as she walked over. It had started. Regina was coming for her. Emma braced herself back against the chair and resigned herself to her fate: a lap dance virgin was about to have her first from a pro.

Regina took slow steps over to Emma, smile gone and hands suddenly roaming her own body. She moved her hips to the music and watched Emma very carefully, confused when Emma's eyes took her in and then locked on her face, curious as ever. She looked to be wondering why Regina wasn't smiling - wasn't enjoying herself. In answer, Regina turned her back to Emma, trying to gather her thoughts. Emma's reaction was throwing her off her game.

"Do people not usually mind ... that you're not enjoying yourself?"

Regina frowned, wiping the expression from herself as she turned toward Emma and smiled for her. The moment she did, Emma's face reacted accordingly, smiling too. But when Regina's smile dropped, so did Emma's.

"They're not usually looking at my face," Regina said seriously, still swaying as she closed some of the space between them.

"That's a real shame."

Slowly, Regina took in the way Emma sat - legs apart. Confident. Incredibly attractive. Regina couldn't help but smile at Emma’s attitude, trying to shake her little smirk when she stopped and stood between Emma's knees. "A lap dance isn't for me," she answered simply, taking a gentle seat on Emma's knee and smiling wider when Emma shivered. "But this one is special, I must admit ..."

"Mmm," Emma teased when she saw Regina's smile and slip closer into her lap. "Damn."

Regina watched Emma drop her hands to her sides, fisted. She couldn't help but smile at Emma's determination to appear unaffected. To keep herself from touching or bracing Regina against her.

"And you're telling me you don't like this?" Regina chuckled, grinding her hips in Emma's lap and leaning forward.

Emma's breath caught in her throat at how good it felt to have a woman dancing on her, but she managed to find her words again when Regina looked over one shoulder.

"I like it - too much maybe - but ... it's nothing compared to seeing you enjoying yourself ... having a good time. And knowing this kind of bums you out ... bums me out too."

Unexpectedly, Regina turned then and stood, lifting her left leg and stepping on the chair just between Emma's legs - a fierce move done with intention and precision. Regina glared down at Emma, eyes dark with hands on the woman's shoulders: "This 'bums' you out, huh?"

Emma gulped again, taking in the sexy legs and snapping her eyes up to Regina's again. "I uh ... I don't really know what you're trying to prove here ... I AM attracted to you. I never denied that ... I’m just … I’m saying it’s not the same for me as when you’re happy."

The song switched to Lovage's "To Catch a Thief" and Emma tried to steady her breathing while - to her horror - Regina straddled her thighs and dropped down into her lap.

"Jesus, R'gina ..."

Regina made her face unreadable, as she did most times she was dancing, grinding down on Emma and lacing her arms around the woman's neck. Slowly, she started to dip back with one hand on Emma's shoulder, pushing her chest up. Giving no time for Emma to adjust to the new view, Regina snapped back up again and slowly pulled off her shirt.

Emma's eyes went wide, stunned and utterly speechless.

Regina smirked, dipping her head back and grinning at the look on Emma's adorable face, still grinning when she looked down at the innocent blonde under her.

"You're enjoying this," Emma grinned back at her: "Torturing me. Aren't you?"

Regina cleared her throat and tried to appear expressionless again.

"Well that's why I'M enjoying this so much," Emma moaned, pushing out her own chest just a little, watching the perfect rise and fall of Regina's breasts in that sexy bra. "Don't stop ..."

"Tell me you want me for my body and I'll take off my bra," Regina teased, forcing herself to remain stoic even though she could clearly see Emma would never agree to her offer. She brought her breasts just an inch from Emma's face and lingered there - her insecurities surfacing when she thought of her insane need for such a thing. Wasn't this technically a date - her first date with Emma? And was she really demanding on giving her a lap dance challenge in order to open up? Had she sunk so low?

"R'gina? ... Are you okay?"

Regina looked down to Emma's eyes filled with concern and slouched in Emma's lap, finally relenting. "I'm sorry. I don't know ... what's wrong with me."

Emma smiled and lifted a hand to Regina's face, freezing it there when she remembered Regina had said not to touch her. "Can I ...?"

Regina nodded, holding back tears, and Emma smoothed her cool palm over Regina's cheek, her other hand steadying itself on Regina's leg innocently enough.

"Hey ... it's okay. I understand this is hard for you. I mean, I don't TOTALLY get it, but I know why you might have wanted to prove to yourself that I actually care about you. But I think there's lots of ways I can prove that. I just ... I mean, I don't know how fair it is to wiggle in my lap like this with your shirt off. At least let's make it even?"

Regina chuckled when Emma looked jokingly down to her own shirt. "No, you idiot. We're not making it even. This was a stupid idea ... I apologize for even suggesting it."

Getting up from Emma's lap and grabbing her shirt, Regina walked over toward her phone until a voice froze her there.

"Wait! ... Wait, leave the music on. Here, YOU sit down. Let me try. I wanna make sure you're not just after me for _my_ body too."

Regina bit her cheek not to laugh, turning and sighing: "Emma, I get it. I was stupid."

"Just listen to me and give it a try," Emma insisted, getting up from the chair and gesturing for Regina to sit, "Maybe I'm super talented at this and you won't be able to control YOURself."

Regina smiled and did as Emma asked, thinking she owed her at least that much, sitting down and pulling her shirt back on. She sat like Emma had sat - with her knees apart - to emulate how most people sat during a lap dance even though it felt quite unnatural for her.

Before Emma even started toward her, Regina was already smiling. Was Emma _stretching_?

"What are you doing over there?"

"Oh, don't worry about this. Shit's about to go down."

Regina relaxed visibly, crossing her arms. "Alright, I deserve this."

"Yeah, I'm coming for you," Emma teased, snapping her fingers to the new song that started: "Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby" by Cigarettes After Sex. The ridiculous and goofy accompaniment to the slow song made Regina laugh out loud. "Oh yeah ..."

Emma dramatically took out the ponytail she'd had in her hair, and shook her head for only a second until her hair came pouring down her shoulders. For a goofy touch, she blew her hair from her mouth and winked at the brunette who was sitting watching it all with a beaming smile.

"You're very good at this," Regina giggled, realizing she hadn't laughed that way for too long.

"Oh I know," Emma laughed, too, moving her body in robotic movements, finally waltzing over to Regina to lean down and kiss the smiling woman on the nose. "That's for restraining yourself."

"... Sexy."

Emma laughed and turned around, blushing over her shoulder when she saw how seriously Regina's eyes raked over her. How the look behind Regina's eyes had changed so drastically in the span of only five minutes.

"Good, now I wanna hear if you just want all this," Emma inquired, climbing onto Regina's lap reverse cowgirl and fluttering her hands up over her head. She sifted through her hair and let it drop, smiling to think how cute Regina would look with blonde hair falling over her face.

Regina felt surprisingly aroused at the silly dance, leaning back to detangle herself from Emma’s long blonde hair with a smile. She sat stunned at how her feelings had grown for Emma in such little time. With each silly movement, Regina felt the blonde's affection for her. With every smile and awkward wink, Regina could feel the care and patience Emma had with her. It left Regina feeling so touched that she had to remind herself Emma was still expecting answers - goofy or not.

"I ... I do. I wanna date you."

Emma looked over her shoulder to see the serious look in Regina's eyes. She stood up and turned, looking down at Regina: "You ... do? But what about this?"

"I already told you - it was stupid. I was ... a little insecure."

"And now ...?"

"Now I see what I need to do, and it isn't to torture you with some misguided dance."

"Oh?" Emma smiled. "And what do you need to do?"

"This." With that single word, Regina reached out and grabbed Emma by the blouse, pulling her down for their lips to meet in a somehow perfect embrace that wasn't too soft or forceful - the moment filled with a quiet moan from both women before they drew back.

Emma slowly stood to her full height again, blinking when Regina did the same. She breathed deeply and just watched Regina for another few seconds before they closed the space between each other and they were kissing again. Emma grabbed Regina by the hips and Regina grabbed Emma by the arm - both of them melting into one another to the beat of yet another song: "Mad About You" by Hooverphonic. It was a song that helped the moment to elongate, both women moving slowly together.

"Mmm," Regina whimpered into Emma's mouth, so shaken by the new feelings coursing through her that she shivered when Emma wrapped both arms around her and held her there. Kissing with open mouths and unexpectedly cooperative tongues.

"Nnn," Emma groaned, losing one hand in Regina's hair and framing the other down the brunette's neck, her body encouraged with every move and sound of the one in her arms. If Regina would just stop moaning, she knew she could get a hold of herself ...

Regina finally pulled her lips back, breathlessly blinking her vision back as Emma did the same. They both stared at each other in stunned silence until Emma finally spoke.

"So ... we have chemistry, huh."

"You're ... quite passionate," Regina whispered. "I ... didn't expect it to be ... like that."

"Hey, just 'cause I'm a lawyer, Lady ..."

Regina smiled, eyes glued to Emma's lips. She wondered how such thin lips felt so full just a minute ago, and realized she didn't care. She just wanted that feeling again, but she reminded herself it was the first time they'd really seen each other in a romantic way, and she needed to hold off. As good as Emma's hands felt on her, she had to resist.

"I ... I should go pick up Henry."

"K ... yeah, yeah of course."

Regina awkwardly backed away and straightened out her shirt, combing her hands through her hair to realize she had lost her ponytail to the kiss. She cleared her throat and decided to forget about everything Emma in order to clear her mind.

"Wait - I can drive you to my mom's."

"No, I ... I'd like to bus," Regina insisted, blushing furiously as she grabbed her purse. "Sorry. I need a little time."

"Okay, well text me once you're home, okay?" Emma asked, following Regina to the door. "I'll worry."

"Sure."

Emma held the door open when Regina started to look through her purse for her bus pass.

"Sorry I kind of scared you off with my ... great kissing skills."

Regina looked up to her with a gleam in her eye, grinning: "Don't get cocky on me."

Emma watched her walk down the hall in the simplest and yet sexiest pair of jeans hugging perfectly to Regina's behind, and Emma licked her lips at how it had felt to touch her. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Regina laughed down the hall and then disappeared before Emma trusted herself to lean back against the door, letting out a breathy sigh. Regina was going to drive her completely wild, and yet she didn't entirely mind.

 

 

***

 

 

Sitting with Henry on the bus later that night, Regina finally allowed herself to daydream about the time she'd spent with Emma. She had been worrying on her way over that Mary Margaret would somehow know what had transpired between her daughter and Regina, but that was in the past. Regina let herself remember how it had felt to smile and laugh with Emma, and it brought her more happiness than she felt comfortable admitting to herself.

Regina carried her sleeping son up to their apartment with a smile still spread over her face. She walked, humming her way along, before being troubled by one of the men on her floor who couldn't seem to understand she had no interest in him. She dealt with him, fussed with her keys, and put Henry to sleep before finally changing into pyjamas and dropping down onto her couch to relax. It had been a long day, but her night with Emma had her smiling still. With just a touch of guilt, Regina retrieved the jacket Emma had left at her place the day before and draped it around her shoulders for comfort. Thinking heavily of the blonde lawyer, Regina reached onto the sparse end table and grabbed her phone to send a simple text.

\---

**Tonight was special. Thank you for meeting with me.**

\---

Five minutes later, she had two replies.

\---

**It was special for me too.**

**When can I see you again?**

\---

Regina blushed on her couch, alone, just thinking of how Emma might have looked at her in that moment. Battling with herself, Regina texted and edited a message for a few minutes before finally sending it.

\---

**I have some issues I'm sorting through. So long as you’re aware of that, I'd like to see you again, soon.**

\---

Ten seconds later, she had a buzzing response, and Regina couldn't help but chuckle at Emma's obvious desperation - an endearing quality, Regina found.

\---

**When?**

\---

Regina got up, put her arms through Emma's masculine black sport jacket and went over to Henry's crib, watching her baby sleep. She sighed and then looked back down to her phone, wondering if Emma would get along with her son and vice versa. If they didn't get along, no amount of chemistry could help, she knew. So it would be good to know either way. Not that it was another challenge Regina was setting up. Not that she did that.

Swallowing hard, Regina typed out another text.

\---

**It might be nice for Henry to meet you.**

\---

The cheeky answer came quickly:

\---

**Are you doubting how much he'll love me? Not wise, lady. Do not underestimate me. I already know his mom likes me, so I have a good feeling about this.**

\---

Regina smiled at her phone and then looked down at her sleeping son and felt a mix of emotions flushing through her. Was she happy that Henry could have another parent figure in his life if she and Emma became an item? Was she worried if Emma suddenly disappeared from her son's life after he'd bonded? Was she sad that she felt Henry needed another parental figure in his life at all? Was she disappointed in herself that she hadn't been able to keep his father around in the first place? Was she angry with herself that she held so much self-doubt?

She felt it all, and it was overwhelming.

By the time she looked back down at her phone again, Emma showed her endearing charm yet again in text form, thrice over.

\---

**I can't believe you danced for me like that and I wasn't allowed to show you what effect it had on me.**

**I am just gonna have to dazzle you with my lawyerly wit and we'll be even.**

**Arguing cases is just sooo sexy. You'll be powerless to resist me, I'm sorry to say.**

\---

Regina thought back to Emma insinuating she'd been abstinent for a long while, and Regina had to wonder how long. She herself hadn't been in a very enjoyable intimate relationship since Henry's father, but she'd been with a few partners since. How long had Emma gone without, she had to wonder. Before she had a chance to ask via text, another was sent her way:

\---

**You owe me big time for behaving btw. It's been two years and you just flaunted your perfect body in my face with the sexiest lap dance ever. I should win an award.**

\---

Regina chuckled, figuring that to be true, sending an apologetic text and going to get ready for bed, her own words re-playing in her mind.

\---

**You deserve better, I know. I'll make it up to you, Emma. I promise.**

**Maybe one of these days I’ll give you a real dance …**

\---

**Jkdaljkldakopw ??**

\---

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope there is still interest in the story. If so, please let me know what you think thus far. Like most who post here, I thrive on comments and am inspired by readers' thoughts and reactions.


	6. A Friend's Approval

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a problem at the club and then some more bonding between our lovely duo.

 

 

"So ... she’s a _she,_ " Ruby prompted, back stage with Regina, lighting up a cigarette and holding the thing out the rear window, grinning like a wolf. She had been able to tell the moment Regina walked in the dressing room doors that day that something had changed. Ruby had sensed what immediately, verified by the blush Regina wore in answer. "Who is she, Babe?"

Regina sighed as she put the last of her makeup on in a light blue robe she'd brought from home and kept in her locker. While she was preparing herself between songs or at the beginning of the night, she always preferred to wear a robe than change into something to prepare. Either way, she wasn't about to just sit there in her bra and panties all evening. Regardless of the job she had, she didn't enjoy feeling so exposed to so many eyes. Even Ruby's.

"She's ... no one you know."

"I wouldn't guarantee that so fast," Ruby laughed to herself, taking a long drag of the cigarette and letting out another toothy grin. "Is she some important CEO or something? You think I don't know rich Johns? ... And Joannas?"

Regina couldn't help but smile at Ruby's humor. She had to hand it to the skinny brunette - she certainly had an interesting way of looking at the world. "It's not that, Ruby. It's just that ... well, she was a lap dance virgin when we met. So no, I don’t think you know her."

Ruby scoffed: "She was not."

"She was," Regina said with a subtle smile Ruby almost didn't catch in the dull light by the mirror. "I can't explain it. I can just ... read her. I believe her."

"Ooh, you've got it bad, girl!" Ruby moaned, swatting her free hand in the air. "Get it! Get it!"

"You're certifiably insane," Regina chuckled, checking her phone for the time and then setting everything down on the counter.

"Hey ... she's a lap dance virgin, huh?"

"Not anymore, but she was."

"Mmm ... you know I like them innocent. Them virgins though, am I right?"

Regina laughed again, standing from her chair and casting her robe over it, giving Ruby a shake of her head. "Don't tease me too much about this. I'm still ... seeing where this goes. I'm seeing if she cares right now, and we'll go from there."

Ruby nodded and watched Regina walk out from the dressing room, sighing to herself. She bit her lip and ignored Regina’s difficult walls, making a face and putting out her cigarette before the club manager caught her smoking inside again. Carefully, she walked over to Regina's chair, smiling brightly at all of the dancer’s pictures of Henry along the mirror. Then Ruby peered down at Regina's phone, and snuck a peak at the telephone number of the person texting the secretive brunette: **I'll see you Friday, right? You and Henry?**

And Ruby couldn't help but grin to herself: "Jackpot."

 

 

***

 

 

Ruby was getting bored of her shift the next day only halfway through, yawning behind the bar and flirting with both of the bartenders - Pam and Hank. She had snuck the phone number from Regina's phone and plopped it into hers for safekeeping, because she knew she could get the mystery woman to prove to Regina that she DID care and that Regina was just a very guarded person. She wasn't exactly proud of herself for snooping, but Regina sometimes just needed a push, and Ruby sensed that this woman was special, so she put herself out on a limb by keeping the secret from her friend.

She let out another big yawn as she was collecting drinks for two of the front tables when none other than Regina came up to the bar and whispered tersely for her come closer.

"Dennis is here again - is Todd around?" Regina whispered, groaning internally when the manager Marvin slid into their conversation, unimpressed.

"Hello there, Evil Queen," he said as flamboyantly as he ever did though he was heterosexual through and through. His annoying voice, however, was so distinct to Regina that she knew it instantly even over the music and before she looked his way.

Neither Regina nor Ruby said anything, so Marvin continued, hands on his thin hips - his large chest sticking out.

"Ladies. Is there a reason why The Big Bad Wolf and the Evil Queen are at the bar and not waiting on our customers? ... Regina, you're supposed to be on now."

Regina sighed, knowing Marvin wouldn't understand. "There's a guy in here that groped me the last time he came, and I want Todd here to throw him out if need be." As she spoke, Dennis glared over at her but made his way toward the front row seating area wrapping around the curved stage.

"Well if he orders a dance, just decline," Marvin said seriously, arms flexing with his frustration as they always did when he was agitated with one of the women who worked there. It was a habit that made Regina nervous. "You CAN say no, right?"

"Don't be a fucking jerk," Ruby interrupted, stepping over to him and sticking her finger in his chest. "If she doesn't feel safe, isn't it on YOU to fix that? This is YOUR club."

"You are on thin ice, girl," Marvin flared at Ruby, trying to keep his cool via Ruby's job.

"Okay, it's fine," Regina assured them both, gesturing with open palms. "Just ... Ruby, please get Todd in case I need him, okay? Dennis seems pissed and I don't know if he's gonna try something."

Sighing angrily, Marvin left the issue well enough alone, and announced he was going to get Todd himself. Meanwhile, Ruby snuck out her cell and texted the number she'd found about the problem that could have unfolded at any minute, knowing damn well it wasn’t her place, but doing it anyway with the hope that it would help.

\------

**regina's friend here. guy named dennis at the club. might need a hand or two. soon.**

\------

 

 

***

 

 

Regina was preparing behind the curtain of the stage, fisting her hands together and reminding herself that there were lots of people working out front who could help her if she needed it. She only had to strip in front of the creep that also happened to be her girlfriend’s misogynistic work associate. Not that THAT made her feel any better. She felt sick to her stomach, but she knew better than to flee the stage altogether. The nights that Marvin was around, he could be a very strict supervisor, and quick to ease up on shifts the following week if need be.

Shaking out her hands, Regina shut her eyes for a long moment until she heard herself announced and listened to the introduction of her music.

"Five ..."

"Ladies and gents, the lady of the hour!"

"Four ..."

"The dark and sexy mistress of the castle!"

"Three ..."

"The Eviiiiiiiillllll"

"Two ..."

"Queeeeeeeeeen!"

"One."

 

 

***

 

 

Emma was at her apartment, yawning over a late-night dinner of microwaved pasta over the sink when she heard her phone buzz.

When she read the message, she set down her food in the large sink, ran over to the door, grabbed her coat, keys, wallet, and phone and was down the hallway before remembering to lock her door. She backtracked, locked her door in a panic, and practically flew to her car to get to the shady club with the co-worker she'd already had strong words with about him ever seeing Regina again or revisiting that club. The co-worker who she had outed her semi-relationship to when she couldn't ignore how he had treated Regina. The co-worker who seemingly understood and yet was currently visiting that very establishment - watching her girlfriend take off her clothes. Emma knew Dennis had a habit of making bad decisions and talking his way out of them, but not when it came to her girlfriend.

Wait – was Regina her girlfriend? She wondered to herself as she started the car and drove out from the heated garage of her apartment complex, teeth gritted shut. Either way, one thing was clear.

Dennis was a dead man.

 

 

***

 

 

Emma gathered herself outside of the club so she wouldn't make a scene inside and possibly put Regina's job in jeopardy. She knew Regina wasn’t the type of woman who wanted to be a damsel in distress, so she cooled herself off for thirty seconds before doing something she might regret. At last, she pulled her fitted grey jacket down and untucked her hair from it, putting on her best attempts at self control under the circumstances. She knew it wouldn't be smiled upon for an interested suitor to march inside and tear up the place, so she drew up her logic and tried to keep that at the forefront of her mind as she walked inside, showed her ID, laid down cash, and walked into the main stage area of the club.

The first time she’d been, she’d rushed out and hadn’t taken a real look at the place. More observant that time around, Emma saw that it wasn’t awful inside, but everything was dark and there was a blacklight setting an indiscernible mood Emma didn’t care for. The décor was tacky, but that was also to be expected. Content that no violent scenes had yet broken out, Emma ignored her surroundings to look around for the one thing she’d come for: Dennis.

She scanned the place for her idiot co-worker, and narrowed her eyes when she caught sight of him. She started the long, winding way over as calmly as she could, ignoring everything else. He had laid down two tens in front of him and was taunting whatever poor dancer was on stage to come a little closer even though she'd clearly been declining him her attention.

However, as Emma got closer herself, her eyes snapped up to the stage when a familiar splash of brown hair whipped around the pole - the dancer hanging upside down with her top off but her bottoms on. One of the woman's legs was wrapped tightly around the pole to keep from falling, but the other had curled around it as she spun, creating an effortless-looking move that must have been anything but effortless. The way the confident woman moved her body … Emma was entranced. The young lawyer’s mouth went slack, however, when the woman lowered herself to the floor of the stage.

Was that ... Regina?! Emma quickly looked away so as not to see more of the woman she liked than Regina wanted her to, and only looked back toward Dennis, cutting her way through the small crowd at the front to speak with him. She would have to quietly escort him outside, but she didn't know how.

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma noted Regina lying on her back and Dennis grinning like the piece of shit he was, waving another ten-dollar bill and then lying it out beside the other two.

Once Emma cut past the first two tables, Dennis recognized her and got up from his seat at the look in Emma's eyes. At the commotion, Regina took stock of the situation and also realized Emma was there in the club. While she was stripping. Humiliated that Emma looked to be confronting one of the creeps leering at her – Dennis, no less – mortified her. As soon as she noticed Emma and Dennis standing face-to-face, she brought her arm across her naked chest and ran off stage in her bare feet, self consciously tucking her hair behind her ear as she disappeared behind the curtain.

Todd was the first one there beside the angry two, demanding to know what the hell was their problem.

"This is the fucker that can't keep his hands to himself," Emma spat out angrily, tall in her boots - as tall as Dennis. And much angrier.

Todd admired the pristine-looking woman's protection over Regina, but he couldn't allow people to act that way inside and scare all the customers away: "Well he's not doing any of that now, so if you're gonna cause problems in here, I'm gonna have to escort you outside."

"Yeah, I haven't done a damn thing," Dennis teased with a dopey grin both Emma and Todd wished they could hit from his face, but Todd had a job he was required to do, and Emma had to keep herself out of legal trouble.

Thinking instead of Regina, Emma looked around to see she'd disappeared somewhere. "Where is Regina?" Emma whispered to Todd who wondered just who the woman was. Everyone at the club knew Regina as the Evil Queen and nothing else.

"You know Regina?"

Dennis cut in with a nasty grin: "They're dykes together."

"Why don't you mind your own business, Buddy," Todd warned, keeping Dennis at a distance with a hand that threatened to push if necessary. Todd looked back at Emma and frowned: "Regina's ... not seeing anyone. I'd know."

"Never mind - tell Regina I'm sorry if I messed up," Emma sighed, ignoring the waste of breath to her left and giving Todd no further clues as she marched toward the exit.

Before she could leave, Ruby was there beside the bar, calling to her with a grin that said blonde professional types of a certain height and confidence were her type, too: "You Emma?"

Emma stepped over cautiously. "You're her friend? The one who texted?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Well no offense, but why'd you text me to come here? It looks like I just upset the hell out of her. She ran off and I can't just go in back and get her. Not that she'd want to see me anyway ..."

"I had to know if you cared about her. She's pretty guarded, and ... well, I don't know. She doesn't have a lot of people looking out for her, so I like to try and help when I can. And having one of her only friend’s blessings is alright, you know. Besides, the club owner's a real snatch, so I had to call someone to help her out. She really didn't wanna go on and dance for that creep, but she kinda had to."

"So … this was some kind of test for me?"

"No, but now that I know you're serious about her ... and attractively protective, I must say ... I WILL give you an important little piece of information."

Emma frowned at the slim troublemaker in confusion, waiting for whatever she was about to say.

"Left upper back and the base of her neck," Ruby smirked, gesturing to the areas on her own body. "You offer a massage and an Australian red wine, and you're in. She'll refuse twice, but the third time she'll agree, and she needs a real massage from someone who's not her weird friend."

Emma looked at the woman with obvious uncertainty.

"She is _tense_ , just trust me. And sometimes I offer to help her out a bit because, you know, it's just her and the kid. The wine will make her feel safe, because apparently she never screws and drinks, so it'll be an innocent massage. And she always insists she doesn't like it, but ... let me tell you. With those hands ... I think you'll give her everything she needs."

Emma couldn't help but smile at the woman's strange advice. "This is all a little strange."

"Honey, this whole _thing_ is strange. You just saw your wannabe-lover on a stage topless, dancing for some creep you hate and you're telling me I'M weird?"

With that, Ruby walked away, and Emma left and walked to her car, thinking of what to do next. What was it with those two and tests?

It was fairly easy to plot out how to take care of Dennis. She confronted him outside where he went after he'd been told Regina was done for the night, and recorded him saying some very explicit and incriminating things. She would be able to use that in order to get him transferred elsewhere or possibly suspended from work altogether, but there were more important things to do just then, so she let him waltz away, snickering to himself.

 

 

***

 

 

Inside, Regina was trying to keep the tears from pooling in her eyes when Ruby came into the dressing room, explaining why Emma was there. Regina yelled at her friend and took off angrily with her things thrown over her shoulder, certain then that nothing between she and Emma could work. Damn Ruby and her meddling, and damn Dennis who just had to ruin everything.

She was on the verge of sobbing openly when she stormed out of the club, past Marvin who was yelling at her, when she noticed Emma there on the curb, leaning against her expensive car and texting of all things.

Regina straightened up and lifted her chin as best she could even though she felt shame coursing through her with wild abandon. "So ... you saw me in there."

Emma looked up like a deer in the headlights, turning her phone to the brunette: "Sorry ... I was just texting you."

"Look, you don't have to be so nice to me. I think reality is going to set in finally, and you know what? That's just fine. I'd rather you get it now than get involved with me and take off some time down the road."

"No, R'gina, wait!"

Regina paused in her angry path, shoulders back and chin high. If Emma wouldn't take her word for it, then she would just have to explain all the reasons why any sort of relationship between them wouldn't work. She swiftly turned around with a pivot, and all but glared at Emma.

"I can protect mySELF, thankyouverymuch ... and now you've come to the one place I never wanted you to come again. What - are you going to run in there every time some pervert looks at me the wrong way? Because that happens ten times a day! You're certainly not able to handle my job, and it's what I have to do to support for my son, and if you even insinuate that you can take care of us, I will slap you right here because I will have no one slipping me charity and expecting for me to lie down on my back in return."

Emma appeared physically taken aback, but recovered quickly enough: "Whoa, that's ... I can see you've been stressing out about all that, but R'gina, I'm not like that, I swear. If you really thought about how I’ve been with you, you’d see that. I know you're not the kind of woman to accept pity or charity from other people, and ... well, that's kinda perfect, because I'm not the kind of person to give it." There was a tenseness in Emma’s tone that was slightly jarring to Regina who was used to winning verbal battles so easily. Always being the confident one.

Then Regina crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, so you wouldn't help me even if I wanted it?"

Emma couldn't help but smile: "You're impossible, d'you know that?" But before Regina could complain about her wording, she finished her thought: "And ... strangely, it's one of the things I really like about you. My whole life ... I've kinda won every argument ever. I mean, I'm a lawyer by nature, kind of, and no one can ever really handle that side of me, but you ... you're a firecracker, R'gina. You're ... fucking amazing."

Regina looked down, her crossed arms appearing as more of a self-protection stance than indignation. She looked to be doubting many things about herself in that moment. Struggling and unsure.

"You really are," Emma promised, taking just a soft step forward. "And ... I DO hate that you work here, but it's only because I know you hate it, too. If you loved it, I'd have to find a way to get over myself, but ... you're suffering here, and that kills me. I hate that you make yourself this vulnerable almost every day, and that you hate it but you force yourself to do it. I'm not gonna quit hating it because you'd feel better ... I'm sorry. Anything that irritates you this much is gonna get under my skin, too. I … can’t help but care about you. Can’t you see that? Can’t you tell that I want you to be happy? Haven’t I shown you that? … Well? Haven’t I?"

Regina's lip quivered, but she kept it hidden with her head tucked down, casting a sidelong glance at the street and finally looking up so unshed tears wouldn't spill down her cheeks. No one had ever professed such serious feelings for her before, and she wasn't sure what to do about it. Emma sounded so confident about her feelings, regardless of Regina's station in life.

"R'gina ... look at me?"

Slowly, she did, and Emma took the opportunity to loosen Regina's tense arms to the woman's sides. Holding her hands.

"Can we just spend some time together, despite what happened in there today? ... I want to show you that I can take care of you in the _emotional_ sense. I can be there for you when you need me, and money has nothing to do with this."

Regina swallowed the lump in her throat. "Money has a lot to do with everything."

Emma gave both the woman's smaller hands a squeeze and sighed: "Yeah, money is unfortunately important, but it doesn't dictate what goes on between us. Ever. Okay?"

The cool air made Regina shiver, but she immediately froze her body's response, angry with herself for showing any sign of weakness in such an important conversation. Or ever, really. She had learned to hate her body in some ways, and merely tolerate it in others. It made her money, but it often betrayed her.

"What do you say to a nice relaxing evening at my place?" Emma asked with just the hint of a smile, hands giving Regina's another soft squeeze. "I know you were probably gonna go pick Henry up early, so we could do that too, if you want. I don't know how baby friendly my place is, but we could go to yours instead if you want?"

The desperation made Regina smiled briefly, squeezing Emma's hands back and then crossing her arms again with the chill of the night. "You don't mind acting desperate around me, do you?"

"Not at all."

Regina let out a breath of laughter, looking both ways down the street and sighing. "Alright ... I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world, spending a little time with my hero, huh?"

Emma's ears perked: "Hero?"

"Well, you did put an end to my horrible dance for Dennis to see. So for tonight, you can be my savior – even though I don’t _need_ one," Regina teased, walking to the passenger side of Emma's car and raising a brow when Emma hurried there before her, opening the door in fanciful fashion. Regina chuckled, ducking into the car: "You know, you don't have to do all this, Emma. I said yes."

"You deserve to be spoiled," Emma smiled, carefully closing the door behind Regina.

The brunette sat in her seat, thinking sadly to herself that she'd never wanted anyone to fuss over her because she didn't feel she was worth it. The thought struck her just then, while Emma was doting on her and smiling at her as if she were royalty.

"So, where to, Madam?" Emma smirked, starting up her car and grinning when Regina was obviously surprised by heated seats.

"Your place sounds nice."

"Do you wanna pick the kid up first?"

Regina smiled out the window, letting out a long sigh when her eyes glanced over the sign of the club she worked at, mixed feelings all around. "No, it'll disrupt his sleep too much. I'll just pick him up after we talk."

"As you wish."

 

 

***

 

 

Regina was perusing around Emma's living room in the lawyer's large apartment when she came across a picture of Emma and three other men in suits.

"Who are they?" Regina asked, holding up the picture for Emma to see from the kitchen, where the blonde was pouring them each a glass of wine.

"Some douchebags from work," Emma chuckled. "They're fine, but ... they can be a real bunch of jerks."

Regina looked down at the picture again and analyzed the picture of said jerks: "From what I hear of the one work friend I know, they're not very gay-friendly, are they?"

“How do you know I’m gay?” Emma teased from the open-concept kitchen. Feeling tingles when Regina sent her a deadly yet intoxicating glare.

“I just use that as an umbrella term. Care to enlighten me?”

“Nah, I’m just messing with you,” she laughed to herself, setting the bottle on the counter and taking the glasses in her hands. “I’m as gay as they come, unfortunately for my Catholic mother.”

Regina smirked as Emma walked over, reaching out for her wine glass when it was presented to her. “Thank you. You’ve been so kind to me, I’d like to share. I … well, while I might go by gay for ease’s sake, I’m … bisexual.” She watched Emma over the rim of her glass as she drank, obviously gaging to see if Emma would be put off by the new information as other women had been before. The obvious concept that Regina had been discriminated against in the past by other gay women irked Emma, but she made sure to keep her smile.

“Expecting me to say something ignorant, are we?”

Regina blushed without understanding why, setting her wine glass down and sitting on Emma’s leather couch. “I … am careful. That’s all.”

“I don’t care about labels as much as the next person,” Emma said simply, sitting on the other end of the couch and taking another long sip from her own glass. Admiring the way Regina seemed to change before her eyes as she revealed herself piece-by-piece. It was certainly hard to gain the woman’s trust, but once inside, the emotion behind Regina’s eyes was stunning.

“Well maybe you ought to be more careful around those work imbeciles of yours running amuck.”

Emma scoffed. "That's putting it lightly. August's okay, but the rest ... what a nightmare." Emma sighed and set down her glass. "But enough of those morons. Let's just enjoy the night together."

"They should be put in their place," Regina thought aloud, setting her own glass down and smiling up at Emma.

"Oh? And they're gonna get it from you, huh?"

"Well, I'm a difficult person to bond with I know, but ... once I'm close with someone I can be very … protective as well."

"So you'd help me bury a body is what you're saying, huh?" Emma teased with a wry little grin.

But Regina countered with an equally dark sense of humor: "And drop it, if need be. Whatever was required ..."

Emma smiled a little, but couldn't help wishing Regina would be more protective of herself. Deciding to ignore that train of thought for the time being, Emma raised her glass to the petite brunette who had changed at the club into an outfit Emma was just allowing herself to fully appreciate. There the brunette sat in adorable tight jeans and a loose-fitting blouse that was synthetic yet pulling in all the right places with just enough modesty to give the edge of class to her outfit that Regina herself exuded. "To you, R'gina."

"And to you," Regina smiled, clinking glasses with the lawyer and then halting before the alcohol touched her lips. "I ... I think you should know that I don't ... involve myself in physical activities once I've been drinking. I take that quite seriously. Consent and the like."

Emma blinked at her with a sip of wine already in her mouth, opting to spit it back into her glass so she could answer promptly: "Yeah, yeah of course. I kinda ... know that already, as far as being honest."

The sheepish smile on Emma's face along with the messy act of having spit her wine back out made Regina smile. "Ruby told you, didn't she?"

"Yeah, she caught me at the club and was glad I came to help you. She uh ... tried to give me some advice."

Regina sat back against Emma's sofa with her glass in-hand again, inhaling the aroma with a challenging expression on her face. "And what advice did she give you?"

Emma grinned guiltily: "Well ... she said how you like to be massaged, and she thought you might appreciate it is all. Nothing ... like, sexual or anything. I don't think."

It was difficult not to laugh when Emma looked so unsure of herself, so Regina did. She laughed heartily, took a long, patient sip of wine, and then looked back up at Emma. "You're very different from anyone else I've ever known."

"Because of my lady parts?"

Regina snorted, much to her own embarrassment. "No, Miss Swan. Because your very nature is just so ... unique. It's hard to explain. You have the quality of goodness just running through your veins, don't you? I know I haven’t been any sort of angel, but you just keep pursuing me like you know I’m worthy of your patience. I'm still trying to understand you."

"Well my parents are still trying to get me too, so the bad news is it might take like ... twenty-eight years."

Regina took another sip of the intoxicatingly good, rich red wine and felt the good spirits lift her own. "Twenty-eight, hmm? That's quite young."

"Oh my god, if you tell me you're a day over twenty-five, I'm going to shoot myself."

Regina chuckled again, surprised at how easily Emma could bring a smile to her lips. "Don't go shooting just yet, Miss Swan. You're starting to grow on me."

"Seriously? Are you older than me or younger? I'm so confused!"

"There's time for logistics another time," Regina teased, ruthlessly enjoying Emma's confusion with a little smirk and keeping very much to herself that she was in fact thirty-one. "Why don't you tell me about what you do for fun?"

The little pout on Emma's lips brought Regina a sort of joy that surprised her after the difficult night she'd had. But then again, Emma always seemed to be able to make her smile. Regina was not the kind of woman to fall for someone quickly, but she felt herself falling when she gazed into Emma's eyes while the blonde explained a dorky video game she played in secret in her down time. Regina propped her chin in her hand - the wine glass in the other - and listened with honest fascination as Emma Swan described the gaming world.

Regina found that she didn't hate Ruby's prompt for a massage from Emma, and the more the woman flailed her hands around in explanation of some kind of race, Regina did her part not to look hungry. Instead, once Emma had paused her tale, Regina looked over her glass of wine and breezily commented: "You know, about that massage, Miss Swan ,,, maybe I could do you first?"

Yes, the look on Emma's stunned face was worth putting herself out there, Regina decided. And was that a whimper? Yes, it would be more than worth the risk.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight hiatus - I've been busier as September rolls around. I'd love to post again this weekend though. Fingers crossed I have the chance.


	7. A Massage and a Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amidst a massage, a mistake is made.

 

 

Emma sat awkwardly with a glass of wine in one hand and her other fidgeting in her lap. Regina had her mind set on _giving_ a massage first, and Emma had accepted. However, Emma was suddenly unsure if she could survive the woman’s beautiful hands on her, learning all about her with their easy chemistry. They couldn’t move things any further than a friendly massage, but Emma knew that would be a challenge for them both.

“You look … very good in a suit, Miss Swan,” Regina said from behind Emma, climbing up onto the woman’s expensive couch to sit on the oddly tall back of it. Regina wore black polyester capris that only differed from the black loose t-shirt she wore by the material – a cheap cotton blend. It hung off one shoulder, and Regina couldn’t help but feel underdressed when she took better stock of Emma’s outfit. Emma wore a dark navy suit that was obviously custom cut for her figure, and the look affected Regina more than she cared to mention. Emma was always dressed to impress, and Regina couldn’t help but admit to herself that it was both a great divide between them and incredibly sexy.

Regina settled in behind Emma and admired the blonde in silence, watching as Emma awkwardly stripped off the blazer of her suit to leave herself in a cream-colored button-up shirt and expensive pants creased only with the long day of wear it had experienced.

“Uh … Thanks.”

“Not used to accepting compliments?” Regina inquired gently, finally summoning the courage to set her hands down on the beautiful lawyer’s shoulders. Emma’s hair had been tied back and twisted into a bun as was typical for the blonde lawyer. As Regina began to softly apply pressure down Emma’s shoulders, she wondered so many things about Emma, like exactly how long her hair was, and what it looked like when it was loose over Emma’s shoulders.

“No, actually,” Emma mumbled, trying her best to relax when she felt Regina’s hands massage deeper into her shoulders. The brunette’s hands were warm, gentle, but surprisingly strong. In almost all of Emma’s relationships, Emma had easily overpowered the girls she was seeing, but suddenly she was aroused at the notion of having a greater challenge with Regina. _I’ve gotta be stronger by at least a little though,_ Emma thought to herself with both eyes closed, brows raising when Regina pushed down with so much pressure Emma actually moaned. _Damn …_

“Maybe we could … loosen a few of those buttons,” Regina suggested almost innocently. Emma smiled as she brought her hands up to her own shirt, enjoying that Regina was the one undressing her. Again, she was most always the pursuer, and having Regina act so assertively was desperately turning Emma on.

“’S this good?” Emma smirked, two buttons undone. The expensive blouse sat open just shy of cleavage with Emma’s shoulders finally relaxed under Regina’s thorough fingers. She had to bite her tongue to keep from admitting her astonishment at Regina’s ability to touch her so perfectly.

“Perfect,” Regina smiled to herself from behind Emma, digging her fingers in a little deeper before using her palms and venturing one hand exploratively down the neck of Emma’s shirt. As she touched, her body started to slowly move in time with her hands. Emma’s body sat between her legs, and Regina’s desire to slip a little closer and feel Emma between her thighs was criminally tempting.

Emma rolled her head forward, forgetting everything for a whole thirty seconds before feeling Regina’s breath on the back of her neck. The sensuality of it sent a shiver through Emma that further warmed her from her toes to her hair. “Fuck …”

“Everything okay?”

“Hell yeah,” Emma chuckled, opening her eyes to focus on their half-drunk glasses of wine on the coffee table. She had to grit her teeth to keep back her need to pivot and lock Regina in a deep kiss. She reminded herself that Regina didn’t mess around after drinking – something she respected. She shut her eyes and tried to focus on just relaxing her muscles, but the way Regina touched her awakened a very familiar desire within herself to take charge.

“Breathe into it,” Regina coached thoughtfully, still enjoying with a smirk that she could tell Emma was warring with herself to accept the massage with innocent gratitude. When Emma finally heeded her advice, Regina leaned a little closer into the massage, humming: “That’s it …”

Emma steeled herself for another five minutes in silence until she could no longer handle the feelings Regina was stirring in her without acting on them. “O … kay. Thank you,” she whispered, pulling away and clearing her throat. “Okay … maybe I can … massage you now.”

“Something wrong?” Regina chuckled when she saw the red flush over Emma’s face and the stubborn woman’s obvious need to try keeping it to herself.

“Nothing at all,” Emma insisted, clearing her throat again before taking a sip of wine. “Come on, you take a seat and let me show you what I can do.”

“Menacing,” Regina teased, slipping down onto the couch and combing her own short hair over her right shoulder. Smiling over her left when Emma had sat on the back of the couch just behind her.

“You have no idea,” Emma teased gently in return, focused on showing Regina that she did indeed know what she was doing.

As Emma started, she realized Regina hadn't been kidding when she'd insinuated she might appreciate a good massage. As a hard-working single mother who contorted her body for a living, Regina had a storage of aches and pains that no one had touched but Ruby in longer than Regina cared to admit.

Emma's arousal took a serious dip when she realized that Regina's flirting was a facade to hide insecurity. She could feel serious muscle knots. Emma frowned as she kneaded her fingers into Regina's neck and down to her shoulders over the woman’s shirt, down her back with careful precision over musculature that was both impressive and intimidating. There was knot after knot, and the fact that Regina had never taken care of it earlier – especially given that she used said muscles on a daily basis – made Emma want to cry.

Did Regina really care so little about herself? Granted, the brunette's devotion to her baby was inspirational, but ignoring one’s own needs was no way to live.

"Is everything okay?" Regina asked uncertainly when she noticed Emma's touches were more clinical than anything.

"You're ... tense. That's all. I'm worried," Emma explained, taken from the sensual moment with her concerns for the single mother.

"Well, we can't all afford professional massages," Regina muttered, regretting what she'd said the second it was out. She shut her eyes and felt Emma shift behind her. "Emma ... I'm-"

"Okay. Have I ever thrown the topic of money in your face?!" Emma asked angrily, obviously hurt and withdrawing her hands.

"Emma, I'm sorry," Regina sighed.

"Look, if you're gonna hold money against me forever, then this would _never_ work, R'gina. That can't be your go-to. I'm doing everything I can to show you I would never do that, and YOU'RE sitting there doing it yourself," Emma said, standing with pain etched on her face. "This isn't fair. I don’t … I just don’t get it!"

Regina looked down, taking it all in stride, looking down at her hands. She didn't know what to say.

"I deal with a lot of crap at work, R'gina, but I don't want this from you," Emma snapped, anger and crushing hurt emanating from her stiff posture before she made herself scarce down the hall toward what Regina presumed was a master bedroom.

“I’m sorry,” Regina called after her, unsure of what to do. She’d never been with anyone like Emma, and she didn’t want to over-step, so she opted to give Emma some space. “I … I’ll go.”

Being that it was Emma’s apartment, Regina simply took her leave, sighing her way out of the fancy elevator and rolling her eyes to herself after the doorman helped her into a taxi Emma had obviously called for her. She sat deflated in the back of the cab as she thought back to the conversation, sagging back against the seat and dropping her head back. It was when Emma demanded better that Regina realized what she'd been doing. She had been – consciously and subconsciously – holding Emma's wealth against her, but Emma had never been that person. Regina had done that all in her mind, and if she was going to forever harbor bad feelings against it, she knew Emma was right – the young lawyer most certainly didn't deserve the judgement.

 

***

 

Emma was at work the next day, tearing into the second donut of the day with her new exercise routine draining her of calories. She had always had a fast metabolism, so extra calories being empty didn't bother her. People commenting about it, however, _did_.

"Where do you put it all, Tasty Buns?" Greg asked, smirking in his snide way that had Emma hating him ever since she first started at the firm. It was an antagonizing relationship at best.

"I don't have time for you, Dipshit. I'm busy."

"Ooh, she's got a little bite today," he chuckled, always thinking back to her first week and how she'd seemed to be joking at all times. Certainly she didn't really mind being teased a little. It wasn't hurting anyone, he told himself, and he liked women with a little kick.

"Out, Greg. Seriously. I'm busy," she sighed, checking over paperwork and never even bothering to look up from her desk. Vanessa, her office mate, was out at the moment, and she didn't feel like putting up with Greg on her own.

"You know, they put the two hotties together in one office. The way Dennis said you clicked with that hooker, I just came to check you're not ... harassing Vanessa or anything."

Emma glared at him in so intense a fashion that his smile dropped. She stood up to her feet and suddenly her frame in that blouse seemed more intimidating than he remembered. Sexy, but rather intimidating, even for a man who was six feet tall and fit himself. Emma had anger and passion on her side.

"Out. Now," she gritted with fury, pointing over to the door. "Get out."

Seeing that Emma was nearing her breaking point, Greg made his exit, leaving Emma irritated behind her desk. She had work to do, damnit.

 

***

 

Regina pushed her shoulders back as she walked up to the building downtown where Emma worked, having learned the name from Mary Margaret after dropping Henry off early. Regina had worn a simple, loose button-up shirt and khaki pants that were reminiscent of a twentysomething hipster because she wasn't trying to fool anybody. She knew she didn't belong in a prestigious place like that, but she went regardless to speak with Emma and apologize, and there was no dress code for that. If Emma would see her, of course.

She prepared herself in the long elevator ride and stepped out on the appropriate floor wringing her hands. She took in a deep breath and blew it all out before vacating the fancy elevator and walking her way to the rather large reception area.

"I'm ... here to see Emma. Emma Swan," Regina said as confidently as she could, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear when the receptionist looked her over curiously. "I'm ... Regina Mills."

"Does she ... have an appointment with you? I don't see her scheduled ..."

"No," Regina admitted, tapping her nails on the marble high-top counter before she realized that was only gathering even more attention. She tucked her hands into the pockets of her pants instead, thinking of what she might say. "I ... I just had something I wanted to tell her."

The receptionist smiled, and Regina couldn't tell if it was out of pity or genuine cheer. "I can leave her a message for you."

"No, that's fine," Regina said, "I'll uh ... I'll just wait here."

The receptionist frowned again, obviously in a mocking show of disbelief: "She's not off until seven tonight. You're gonna wait like ... three hours?"

Regina shrugged, rolled her eyes privately to herself and then took a seat, rifling through some magazines. Such places always made her so nervous and she had no strategies to cope with it when she couldn't feign indifference. She really had to see Emma - humiliating circumstances or not. She had to show Emma she cared and was deeply apologetic about the day before.

The receptionist watched the fit brunette make herself somewhat comfortable in the lobby before calling through to Emma's office.

"Bri?" Emma asked over the phone, obviously stressed by the tone of her voice. "What's up?"

"There's someone here to see you," Brianne said quietly on her end, observing the way Regina flipped through a magazine as if the brunette was too nervous to read - biting her fingernails and trying to cross her legs in the ill-suited leather chair. "She's ... not a client, I would presume."

"... What? I don't have time for this. Just give her my number."

"Were the ... rumors true?" Brianne asked quietly, in almost a whisper so the brunette wouldn't hear.

Emma was silent for a moment: "They told you?"

Brianne licked her lips awkwardly: "Yeah, unfortunately. I just ... she looks like her is all, so I wondered-"

"R'gina?" Emma asked in almost a distant sounding way, as if she were asking Regina herself.

Brianne smiled. She'd made the right call. "You want me to send her in?"

"Have August walk her down. I'll meet them," Emma said carefully, insinuating she didn't want anyone to recognize Regina and give her a hard time on her way around the large office floor.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Once off the phone, Brianne called August first and then the woman currently shifting uncomfortably on a very comfortable chair.

"Regina Mills?"

Regina looked up and got up with confusion when gestured over. She set the magazine down and frowned at why she was being called up. "... Yes?"

"Turns out she has a little time after all," Brianne explained simply, smiling when August rounded the corner. "This is August, a colleague of Emma's who works in the next room over. He's gonna walk you over to her office."

"I ... don't need-"

"I don't mind," August smiled with such a unique look, Regina took to him immediately. He wasn't looking her up and down, and he wasn't grinning like an idiot. He seemed like a simple, happy man, and that relaxed Regina, too.

"Okay, thank you."

They walked together until they reached Emma who had come to meet them halfway.

"Thank you, August," Emma smiled, nodding to him and gesturing for Regina to come with her. She walked Regina to her office which had only one large, floor-to-ceiling window.

Emma was in her element - Regina could tell. It was beautiful, watching Emma move with comfort around her own desk, belonging in every sense of the word. Regina had never felt like she belonged to any sort of career path, but it wasn't jealousy that struck. It was sincere happiness for Emma.

"You look content here," Regina observed with a tender smile, looking around the office and its muted color scheme Emma had made more interesting with a modern-looking desk and decor to match. Regina tucked her hands into the pockets of her lounging pants again and waited until Emma replied.

It took a minute, but finally Emma stood beside her desk, crossing her arms. "Yeah, I ... am, for the most part."

"The imbeciles that work here are giving you a hard time?"

Emma smiled when she noted just a hint of fury behind the brunette's eyes. "Yeah, it's not a big deal. Actually most of the guys here are just fine, but it's the ... not-fine ones that tend to bother me. The other ones I hardly know, actually. We're all so busy."

Regina sighed and looked down, steeling herself for what she had to say. "Emma ... what you said, outside of the club ... about arguing ..."

Emma's ears perked, watching Regina struggle and waiting patiently for it all to come out.

"... I must admit that I've commanded ... the few relationships I've had, too ... in that respect."

Emma understood that and all the newness that came along with that.

"You expect more from me," Regina continued, emotive eyes finally connecting with Emma's. "I know we’ve only begun to get to know one another and there are no labels or dedications, but … I can see that I let you down in a deep sense, and I'm very sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I ... can't imagine if you'd said that to me, with the equivalent, insulting tone."

Emma crossed her arms, bending her strong will just a little to Regina's genuine apology.

Regina took two steps closer, standing in front of Emma, between the two desks. Her arms hanging loosely at her sides. "I guess what I'm saying is ... I grew up a certain way, and some things are just ... old habits. I've never tried having a relationship with anyone as ... well-off as you, honestly, and ... as much as I wished that didn't matter at all, I'm finding myself with prejudices and discomfort at times. And ... I need to consider your feelings, Emma, and that you're clearly _not_ that person. But I didn't do that yesterday, and I'm really sorry. I’ve been accusing you of unfair judgements, and then turning around and doing it _to_ you. They’re … my ingrained prejudices, I suppose."

Emma was noticeably softer, but her arms were still tightly crossed. Another old habit, Regina ventured to guess.

"... You didn't come after me."

It was almost inaudible, but there it was. Regina hadn't gone after Emma down that hall. She’d left and taken the easy way out. It was the most heartbreaking thing, along with the tears in Emma's eyes that the blonde was desperately trying to blink back. Regina watched with fascination as Emma went on: "I just wanted ... never mind."

"No, what?" Regina asked, reaching out to touch Emma's arm but stopping herself. She didn't want to push Emma away so she stood back again, watching Emma struggle with her feelings.

"I ... have my own issues, R'gina, but I don't want to talk about them here."

Just as Regina was about to say she understood that, there was a knock at the open door. Both women looked up to Greg who was openly grinning.

"You two need some privacy ...? Gettin' busy, there, Honey Bun?"

"Who are you?" Regina asked with a suddenly clipped tone of voice neither Emma nor Greg had anticipated.

Greg all but laughed with his signature scoff: "Me? ... Who the hell're _you_?"

Regina stood with the composure of royalty, brown eyes darkening as she took in the look of the man bothering Emma as if she were memorizing his appearance to find him later and dispose of him. It gave Greg chills, but he laughed off the discomfort.

"Jesus Christ, what's her problem?" he chuckled, looking to Emma only to see that Emma was in no mood for his bullshit.

"She's with me. What do you want, Greg?"

"Man, I knew lesbians were cold, but this one's ice, man! I’m just having a conversation!"

Regina immediately walked the two steps over to Greg so confidently the man took a half step back, frowning in confusion down at the petite brunette in lounge clothes. Regina looked up at him without flinching and spoke directly to him with eyes unblinkingly staring into his.

"Your pathetic life is no excuse to bother women and make them feel like sexual objects. And whether or not you feel you have the right to tease and brandish this woman's name after I leave is up to you, but I can promise you one thing," she said aggressively with hate brewing behind her eyes. Real hate, mixed with danger and evil - aggressive without laying so much as a finger on him. "I won't ever let her forget her worth again, and so if I were you, I'd find a mirror and try your little perverted come-ons with yourself, because it’s the only action you'll ever get with that small-minded bullshit you call conversation."

"Crazy bitch," he muttered, stepping back and glaring at her over his shoulder.

"Perverted ape," she spat back under her breath just the same, only turning back to Emma once he'd left down the large hallway. As soon as she did turn back, Emma was smiling and her arms had slipped into her back pockets, watching Regina carefully.

"You ... didn't have to do that, y'know."

Regina smiled back at Emma as best she could - protective mode still on full blast - and sighed: "I know. But I meant what I said, Emma. You shouldn't tolerate that behaviour."

Emma sat back on her desk, sad again: "You do ..."

Regina walked over and took Emma's hands in hers: "Yeah ... I kind of do, don't I? ... But you're a lawyer, Dear, and I ... don't exactly have a degree going for me, so I have a pretty horrible job. But you _don’t_ have to live like this." She melted when Emma looked up at her like a broken child.

"Nobody's ever said that to me before," Emma said quietly, allowing the touch when Regina held her hands.

Regina grazed her thumbs over the backs of Emma's hands and smiled in a way that instantly warmed Emma from the inside out. It was a smile that said more about Regina's feelings than words ever could.

"I'll try ... to be a little ... less tolerant of the few pigs who frequent my office."

"And I’ll slap more perverts," Regina chuckled: " So ... do you think we could give a real relationship a try? Between the two of us? ... Even though we're both pretty screwed up? And we're still on for that picnic we talked about a few days ago? With Henry, if you'd like."

Emma sighed with a growing smile, the apples of her cheeks glowing with her wide, brimming smile.

"Is that a yes?"

Emma's smile only grew when she looked up into Regina's soft brown eyes, reassuring her: "That's a hell yes."

 

 


	8. Henry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina meets Emma at the park with Henry.

 

The day of the picnic came, and Emma rolled out of bed with a smile on her face. She had been texting with Regina for the last four days, and she felt strangely bonded with the brunette seeing as they were both equally as awkward with genuine flirting over the cellular device. Emma looked down at their latest texts from the night before and couldn't help but smirk to herself.

****

**\---**

_**I'll be thinking of you.** _

**\---**

**\---**

**Like right now??**

**Sorry - it just came out.**

**The question!**

**Yeah ... I'm fine.**

**\---**

**\---**

_**Yes right now.** _

_**Goodnight.** _

_**\---** _

**\---**

**Sleep tight!**

**_\---_ **

 

Regina's answers had been all too brief, and Emma's all too embarrassing. All Emma could do was enjoy how into each other they were that flirting could be so awkward between two grown women. Two grown, experienced women nonetheless.

Emma cleared her throat and searched her mind for distractions of Regina gaining that kind of woman-on-woman experience, and got herself dressed for the picnic they’d planned for that afternoon.

 

***

 

"Come 'ere, my little prince," Regina smiled at her son, beaming when he smiled up at her with his bangs nearly covering his eyes. "We need to get you a little haircut, don't we?"

Henry smiled wider at the soft look on his mother's face, quiet as usual. For a two-year-old, he was a quiet boy, but Regina did her part not to pressure him to speak. She simply brushed his cheeks with her thumbs and kissed his forehead before pulling him in for a big hug that made him squirm away, giggling across the room to find one toy or another.

“We’re leaving in ten minutes, Sweetheart,” Regina said, watching him lose himself in an imaginary world as she pulled out her phone and smiled when she found three new messages from Emma.

 

**\---**

**Need a blanket? I’m bringing snacks as we discussed. Sure you don’t need me to bring anything else?**

**Kinda feel like making good on that massage I started before.**

**Well … guess the park with your son isn’t the place, hey?**

**_\---_ **

 

Regina typed back a quick response before thinking better of being so brief and typing out a tease of her own:

 

**\---**

_**Flirt.** _

_**Later this afternoon, he’ll go for a nap. If you want to come back to my place with us, maybe you could show me what those lawyer hands can do.** _

_**\---** _

 

She laughed, however, when she realized just how insinuating that sounded. Thinking better than to extend an invitation to something she wasn’t ready for in such a situation, Regina chuckled and wrote another message.

 

**\---**

_**You know what I mean.** _

_**\---** _

 

There was a reply only two minutes later.

 

**_\---_ **

**Oh, you have no idea. I workout every single day, lady. Don’t let this lawyer BS fool you. I’m no weakling, I guarantee. Underestimating me would be a mistake … just saying.**

**\---**

 

Regina laughed at the response, sure Emma had confidence, but not so certain the beautiful blonde had as much strength as was suggested. She did have to wonder though, instructing her son to start putting on his shoes before typing back one last reply:

 

**_\---_ **

_**Alright, enough texting – I want to see you sooner rather than later, Miss Swan. I’ll see you at the park in an hour. I have a toddler to get ready. The flirting will have to wait.** _

_**\---** _

 

***

 

Regina was surprised to see Emma with a spot all set up by the time she and Henry arrived – the little boy gladly running across the grass and ultimately tripping over his own two feet as he kicked at his favorite mini soccer ball. Regina chuckled and followed after him, smiling widely when Emma hurried over to the little boy only to find he could recover from such little falls on his own. He was up and kicking again before Emma had even reached him, but the instinct to help him tugged at Regina’s heart strings. Emma was a wonderful person – interesting in _her_ , even. What were the chances? A woman like Emma actually interested in her? For how long would that last?

She shook off such negative thoughts, and inwardly scolded herself when Emma looked up at her with sincere delight in her eyes as Regina closed the space between them – both women keeping one on the little boy gleefully chasing around his ball.

“You came prepared I see,” Regina smirked, letting down her backpack by Emma’s picnic blanket and full spread of food. She couldn’t help but tease the overly-prepared beauty. “Forgot I was bringing sandwiches, did we?”

“No,” Emma chuckled too, blushing. “I … got a bit carried away at the store. I don’t know … I just wanted Henry to think I was cool, maybe …?”

Regina fully laughed: “A two-year-old? … I think you overestimate what will win him over.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Emma admitted, willing he blush to fade as she cleared her throat and straightened out her white t-shirt that hung loosely below the waist of her high-rise stress-washed jeans. “I uh … I just wanna have a good day with you and the kid, that’s all. I was a bit … nervous.” But as Emma watched Henry, she couldn’t help but shake her head and smile: “I guess I could have just brought him a ball and he’d be happy, huh?”

Regina looked around to the selection of cheeses and fruit along with artisan bread, humming as she lowered herself to the blanket. “Well, I don’t think his tastes are quite this cultured, but you’ve definitely impressed and enticed _me_ , if that matters,” she teased, crouching over the numerous choices.

Emma watched Regina with a smile that tugged at so many different parts of her. There Regina sat with a messy ponytail that accentuated the rather blunt haircut the brunette wore with a summer dress on that outlined parts of Regina Emma had never seen before. Wasn’t sure she’d ever see … parts of the woman’s body that were innocent in most respects. The glimpse of the relatively open back of Regina’s pastel blue dress had Emma imagining what it would feel like to trace down the woman’s spine with hot fingers. Imagining holding those bare arms in strong, loving hands …

“Are you going to eat any of this?” Regina chuckled, keeping an eye on her son while calling to him: “Not too far, Henry.”

Emma pulled her eyes from her adoration of Regina’s body, and looked out to Henry. Watching the toddler pout to himself but inevitably play closer to their blanket. “He’s a good kid.”

“The best,” Regina agreed without hesitation, looking up to Emma and smirking at the woman’s protective watch over her child. “You know … you’ve gotta care a little less about him or it’s gonna affect me a bit too much for midday ... Don’t make me jump you at a public park.”

Emma lowered herself next to Regina, laughing: “Is _that_ on the table? … Really. It’s sweet, seeing you two together though.”

“He’s just everything to me,” Regina sighed, enjoying a slice of aged cheddar before looking up to the beautiful blonde who sat close, directly across from her on the comfortable quilted blanket. “I can’t imagine my life without him, you know? … As hard as it can be to … sometimes feel alone. In ways.”

Emma nodded, picking at the fruit and locking eyes on Regina until the woman noticed and raised both brows teasingly at her. “Sorry … it’s nice. Seeing you relaxed like this.”

“I could say the same for you,” Regina smiled, gesturing to Emma’s relaxed posture and comfortable clothes. “You could wear a bag and you’d look good, I swear.”

“Don’t swear!” Emma joked, holding out her hands. “Definitely a weakness for me!”

“You don’t say …”

“And why do I get the sneaking suspicion I shouldn’t help you reveal my weaknesses?”

Interrupting their filirtations, Henry kicked his ball onto the blanket, scattering one small plate of cheeses.

“Henry – careful!” Regina panicked, helping to clean it when Emma stopped her hands and drew Regina’s eyes up to hers.

“Hey. Relax,” she said easily, tossing Henry’s ball back to him. “Watch this,” Emma said energetically, smiling brightly at the little boy before getting up and chasing after him. “Kick the ball here, Little Guy!”

Regina watched in surprise as Emma played a nonsense match of soccer with her two-year-old son in relaxed jeans. The way Emma played with Henry truly shocked her – Emma seemed playful and loose and childish herself. It was an excitement and joyfulness that was so infectious, Regina wanted to join them, but knew she should be watching their things. _Responsibility first_ , she reminded herself as she often did.

“Come join us!” Emma laughed, kicking the ball past little Henry so he could chase it while gesturing to the brunette with both hands. “Come on – I can’t beat him all by myself!”

Regina laughed when Henry ran toward the soccer net with the ball in his hands, squealing with laughter when he saw Emma was chasing him and insisting he was cheating.

“Come on!” Emma called from the field not far from their blanket, gathering the attention of a few other families. “Come play!”

Regina looked around, eyes zoning back in on Henry and Emma when the little boy was scooped up by the blonde and thrown briefly into the air – momentarily letting go of the ball so Emma could kick it over to the net, whispering something to the little boy. Henry smile was so carefree then that Regina nearly melted, completely weak when he called out to her.

“Come, Mommy!”

Henry hardly spoke, never mind calling out to her from across a field. That was all it took for Regina to abandon their things and walk onto the field, opening her arms for Henry to run over to her. He fell once along the way, but was quick to recover and hurry into his mother’s arms.

“What do you say to teaming up against Emma, huh?” Regina joked with her little angel, kissing his cheek and setting him down again. “You go get the ball and I’ll distract her, okay?”

Henry took off and Regina jogged onto the field, glad that Emma was just as easy as she’d thought. Emma stared at her, completely oblivious to the little boy who had found the ball and taken an entire minute to kick it properly into the net.

“I think we scored on you, Swan,” Regina teased once she stood in front of Emma.

“Uh …” Emma looked behind herself and chuckled: “Sneaky.”

“Yeah, well. It wasn’t exactly fair to put on a display like that,” Regina smirked, speaking quietly just under her breath. “Now I’m gonna be disappointingly easy, seeing how amazing you are with my little Henry … I won’t be able to resist you now. How is that fair?”

“Mmm, I don’t see anything wrong with this,” Emma muttered, checking to see Henry was trying to get their attention. “Come on, why don’t you and the kid try your best to be competition for me.”

“Oh! Is that all?” Regina balked, hands on her hips. “Full of yourself much?”

“It’s not called being full of yourself when the confidence is justified,” Emma teased, running to Henry and snagging the ball only to laugh when she saw Regina running after her. “You two will never catch me!” she laughed, performing some tricks with the ball that led Regina to believe she’d played on teams seriously somewhere along the way. But when Regina ran behind her son who was desperately chasing the ball, Emma couldn’t bring herself to show off. She just wanted to see Henry’s pride at winning over possession of the ball. While he did, he ran laughing and kicking it in all the wrong ways while Regina made eyes at her from fifty feet away. And was she licking her lips?

Emma did her best to focus, unable to help herself from playing with Regina when the brunette finally gained possession of the ball herself – wrapping both arms around the woman and lifting her feet off the ground.

“Foul play!” Regina laughed, kicking her legs out with Emma at her back. The blonde’s surprising strength only enthused Regina, laughing and fighting the illegal lift as Henry laughed too, and came to get the ball. “Go, Henry!” Regina continued to laugh when Emma finally set her down, chasing after the cheater and accidentally tackling her amidst an interference.

Henry squealed with joy when he very carefully kicked the tiny ball into the net, turning back with concern when he saw his mom flat on the ground. He had never seen Regina in such a position, so he hurried over.

“… Sorry …” Regina smiled shyly down at Emma who had turned underneath her and was currently allowing herself to enjoy the gentle weight of Regina on top of her. She ignored her own imagining of the view Regina must have made sprawled on top of her in that beautiful summer dress and focused instead on the shimmering eyes staring back at her.

“Someone’s competitive,” Emma smirked, fighting every instinct to hold Regina in that position because she was very aware that Henry was there. She decided that her hands couldn’t be trusted.

“I guess I don’t know my own strength …” Regina whispered back, her breath ghosting over Emma’s face before she noticed her little worried son clumsily running over to her. Without any further teasing, she lifted herself off Emma and opened her arms to her little boy who brightened when he saw that his mother was perfectly fine and ready to soothe him with a big hug. He ran right into her arms, holding on tightly as she lifted him onto her hip. “Hi, Sweetheart,” she said, giving his cheek a kiss. “Did you get the ball?”

He nodded and shyly looked over to Emma who was pulling herself up to stand and smacking grass off of her jeans. “You won, Kiddo. Fair and square.”

“Nothing about this match was fair,” Regina teased, squeezing Henry again and beaming at him. “Was it, Sweetie Pie?”

Henry shook his head, finding great entertainment in the fact that his mother and her friend had cheated their way through a silly game. His mother was not always so playful nor so happy. He liked the impact Emma had on her.

“Did you like playing with Emma?”

He nodded and hid a little behind his mother’s chin until he heard Emma teasing him: “No? You hated it?” Emma whined. “Aww, man – you didn’t like playing with me? No?!”

“… Yes,” Henry carefully articulated, unused to responding verbally for the most part. But Emma’s ridiculous scene was tugging a response from his timid lips.

“No? Why?!” Emma called out, looking up to the sky with her arms outstretched. “He said no! He didn’t like the game! Oh why oh why?!”

“Yes!” Henry said a little louder, clapping his hands at the silly sight. “Yes!”

“Yes?” Emma gasped, “Oh thank goodness!” she rejoiced, taking Henry in her arms when Regina allowed, and tossing him once into the air. “Woohoo!”

Regina watched Emma and her son together and felt a small bit of jealousy for the blonde’s ability to make her son speak, but an even larger amount of happiness that he was speaking at all. Maybe, she thought, Emma was not only good for her, but for Henry too. Could she be so lucky that she’d found someone to spend her time with that her son could care for, too? The possibility was incredible warming after her long run of misfortunes.

“The boy speaks!” Emma was shouting with happiness, setting Henry down and racing him back to their blanket. “And he runs – but not as fast as me!”

Regina knew she had Emma’s mother’s business to thank for the blonde being so incredible with children, but she knew a part of it was the woman’s personality. Emma had a very playful side, and the more of it Regina saw, the more she felt herself falling for Emma. Seeing Emma with her son had her heart beating a little quicker and her resolve crumbling a lot faster, too. She didn’t know how much longer she could take things slow with Emma – true feelings or not. She was wondering more with each day how it might feel to have Emma all to herself in bed.

Still thinking along that train of thought, Regina finally joined them at the blanket with Henry’s ball tucked under her arm, meeting Emma’s eyes and quickly avoiding the comprehension she saw there.

“That’s a dangerous look, Miss Mills,” Emma teased, smirking for just a moment as she plucked up some cheese and tossed it into her mouth. She looked down at Henry then, and laughed when she saw he was smelling the cheeses and making faces.

Regina didn’t say anything, but sat with Emma and Henry in silence, flattening out her dress with her legs tucked under her and leaning onto her right hand. She shrugged when Emma snuck her another look.

“Do you have good food?” Henry said, as if uttering his first actual sentence were nothing.

Regina’s jaw dropped, and Emma snorted. Of course the kid would be sassy, Emma thought with a knowing smile. She expected nothing less.


	9. Flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A teasing competition begins ...

 

Later that afternoon, the picnic was packed up and brought to Regina’s apartment when Henry needed his nap. The cheese went in the fridge, the wine Emma had kept in her trunk went on the counter, and Henry went straight to bed.

Once Regina was done changing him and tucking him in, she walked back into the main living space of her small apartment to see Emma sitting on the couch, aimlessly looking around. Regina couldn’t help but smirk, feeling Emma’s incredible ability to bond with her son had been more than enough foreplay. She instantly craved to walk over and start kissing the blonde, but she didn’t want to move things too quickly either if Emma wasn’t feeling the same way. What had amped up her libido might not have done the same for Emma, she realized, who was just trying to get to know her son.

“How are you feeling?” Regina asked, finally opting to cross her arms and lean against the doorway with a light smile on her lips.

“I think it went well,” Emma reasoned, relaxing back into the couch with a goofy smile that only weakened Regina further – almost irritatingly so.

“Mmm.”

“How d’you think it went?” Emma questioned self consciously, not really knowing what to do with her arms. _What do people do with their damn arms?!_ “He … seemed to like me, right?”

“He loves you,” Regina assured with a roll of her eyes, walking over. “Hopefully not more than me _already_.”

“Funny,” Emma said nervously, catching the dangerous look in Regina’s eyes and smirking just a little. “What’s that for?”

“What’s what for?”

“That … F me smile,” Emma challenged, eyes darting to the hall when she’d almost let slip a most inappropriate swear. Chuckling when Regina didn’t answer but came and sat down flirtatiously on the couch next to her. “You did that at the park, too, but … the kid’s right down the hall. Kinda confuses me, if I’m being honest.”

“Please do,” Regina invited, turning to her side so she could stare into Emma’s eyes, her cheek resting in her palm. “I like when you’re honest. You know … you were _honestly_ very good with Henry. Amazing, maybe. And so thoughtful … one might deign to say … perfect.”

“So what’s with the eyes? Impressing you with a picnic is a turn on?”

Regina grinned: “Impressing me at all is. It’s not an easy feat, trust me.”

“Seems easy enough,” Emma joked with a barking laugh until Regina swatted her for it. “Ow! Pick on someone your own size!”

“You’re taller than I am,” Regina laughed back, reaching out to gently comb a fallen piece of hair behind Emma’s ear. “You’re a bit pink, Dear. I hope you didn’t burn in the sun.”

“Probably. I practically have vampire skin.”

Regina laughed at that, warming considerably to Emma as they spoke. Everything between them seemed so easy since admitting their faults to one another. It made her feel so close with Emma that she opted for a bit of honesty herself.

“I … never have really been the initiator type – although I definitely prefer to be the one in control – but … with you, it’s different,” Regina admitted. Transfixed with Emma and unwilling to look away. She wanted to snap that ponytail and watch Emma’s likely extravagant hair fall past her shoulders, but she resisted the urge. Just.

“You wanna get things started?” Emma asked with more genuine curiosity than tease. “Seriously? Now? With me?”

“Yes … Yes … maybe … and absolutely with you.”

Emma blushed and made an expression Regina could only pinpoint as schoolgirl-esque.

“I … don’t know how I feel about kissing you with the kid just … in there,” Emma gestured, frustrated with her own concerns. “… Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s all very new for you. I understand.”

“You do?” Emma asked hopefully, flushing down to her neck when she saw Regina flirtatiously playing with the hem of her dress.

“We’ve already discussed a lot, Emma, and seriously, yes. Of all the things we’ve argued about, I possibly understand this most. You want to protect him from seeing something he shouldn’t. I admire that.”

“Thanks.”

Regina smirked and leaned in just a little, tracing one single index finger down the outside seam of Emma’s jeans: “But I will say it just turns me on more …” When she saw Emma shiver, she pulled her finger back and locked eyes with the fascinating blonde.

“So …” Emma gulped, “Me being good at the picnic … turned you on?”

When Emma almost squeaked, Regina chuckled. “I like seeing you handle such situations so well … yes. It … relaxes me, I suppose.”

“And me … not wanting to just act on it here and now … that turns you on, too?”

“More, yes.”

Emma wanted to laugh: “Damn woman. Is there anything I can do to _stop_ turning you on?”

“Now you’re denying me? Mmm,” Regina moaned playfully, biting on her lip with a laugh deep down for the endearing expression that then lighted up Emma’s features. “Don’t worry so much. I just can’t help but flirt with you right now … It doesn’t mean I’ll jump you. Have no fear.”

“Oh, whew,” Emma deadpanned, torn painfully between wanting to pounce on Regina and make the woman blush in return and scampering out the door with her metaphorical tail between her legs. Regina was looking more and more like a darkly delicious dominatrix than mother and cool-tempered dancer. It made her want to show Regina that she could take the brunette off-guard, too, but it just didn’t seem like the right place or time. Emma really did feel strange about starting anything with Henry around. “Wouldn’t want to feel you on top of me. Not at all.”

Before Regina could retort with a likely racier tease, Emma turned away from the gap that was closing between them on the couch, and cleared her throat.

“I’m sorry if I’m intimidating you,” Regina smiled, admiring that Emma didn’t want to rush into anything. “This is my place and it’s on my terms, as it were.” She was admittedly a bit disappointed that Emma seemed to scare so easily in their game of cat and mouse, but she expected most people not to want or be able to keep up with her level of merciless teasing. “I might be coming on a little strong. I’ll try to … take it a bit easier on you.”

That was, of course, until five seconds later.

It took one second for Emma to surge over and top Regina. It took another second for her to grab the woman’s wrists, and the next second to sufficiently pin them. What definitely didn’t feel like only one second later, Emma let her body down flat against Regina’s, and in the fifth second, she was whispering hungrily into the woman’s ear: “I like it hard …”

Regina’s breath was completely stolen from her – lying breathlessly under Emma who didn’t make any sudden movements or take advantage of her situation. She simply laid there helplessly and went deep red at how desperately she yearned for Emma to push down on that thigh between hers. She closed her eyes and let herself feel Emma on top of her, smirking like a fool while she let herself enjoy the sensation of Emma’s hands on her wrists.

“Do you …?”

Then it was Regina’s turn to feel a sudden and inescapable chill run through her. Rough sex? With a woman as slender as Emma? Surely the beautiful blonde could do little more than push her up against the wall? Just what did Emma have in mind? The very serious wondering had Regina reacting so strongly, she let out a soft little whimper much to her embarrassment.

Emma pulled her lips back from where they’d been lingering at Regina’s ear, and looked into the brunette’s heavy eyes.

“Looks like I might need to be taking it easy on _you_ , huh?”

Motivated by the cocky grin on Emma’s face, Regina moved to jerk her hands out from the woman’s grip, but found shockingly that she couldn’t. She scoffed when she realized Emma could keep her pinned even amidst a struggle, and relaxed into the couch looking up to the surprisingly strong attorney.

“Ah, ah, ah. What’s the magic word?”

Regina chuckled: “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Hey, you’re the one who teased me all afternoon and then admitted to me that you wanted to have your wicked way with me before we had any privacy to actually do it.”

Regina swallowed hard, a tight grin fixing itself to her lips with the sexual tension that sparked between them. Emma infuriated her in the sexiest sense she’d ever known. Not wanting to appear the weaker one, Regina made one last attempt to jerk her hands out – trying so sincerely that she nearly knocked them both onto the floor before giving up.

“Magic word?” Emma smirked, keeping Regina easily pinned. Smirking wider when she saw her ease was getting under Regina’s skin all the more in the strangest, sexiest kind of competition she’d ever been part in.

Regina turned her head with her own smile until Emma leaned a little closer – whispering into Emma’s ear when she had the chance. “Please … Please, Em-ma …” she moaned, her voice as gentle as a whisper but as menacing as Emma’s own internal thoughts. Voice low and dark: “Please … _please_ let me up and don’t fuck me right here so deep with your fingers that I cum all over this little, precious dress …”

Emma’s jaw dropped, her strength giving completely when Regina finally flipped them and Emma went sputtering to the floor.

Satisfied with herself, Regina smacked her hands together and got up, patting off her summer dress with as innocent a smile as she could manage. “There. I suppose that was easier than I thought. All I needed was the magic word … a few, if we’re being technical.”

And with that, Regina was off to the kitchen.

 

***

 

An hour later, Emma was home.

It was only after taking a glass of water when Regina offered it and dumping it over her head just over the sink. When Regina had laughed in disbelief, Emma had humorously excused herself to the washroom. Upon her exit, Emma had clearly de-done her bun and tucked her shirt into her jeans – gathered herself as best she could – to give Regina a proper goodbye.

“Well, goodbye,” she’d hilariously announced, slipping on her shoes by the door.

“Wait!” Regina laughed, hurrying over. “Emma – you’re not seriously leaving are you?” She surveyed the woman’s wet hair and top of her shirt, shocked that Emma had so abruptly put a stop to things.

“I … I am feeling a lot of things right now, and … hearing you say that … stuff. I think I just … need to go home …” Emma cleared her throat. “Just for a little bit.”

“Did I make you uncomfortable?” Regina asked seriously, eyes darting down to Emma’s jeans with real concern about how she’d affected the woman’s sex. It was a look that said she would gladly take care of it _for_ Emma if she’d only stay. “I’m so sorry … I can help.”

When Regina stepped forward, Emma laughed and hurried to take a step back. “Whoa, whoa! … I … I just … it’s been a long time for me, okay? … It’s … I want this to be right. I don’t wanna just … rush it.”

“I’ve given you a lap dance and you handled it okay?” Regina reasoned, frustration building between her legs when Emma nearly tripped out her door.

“I … having you … that close and … those things you said …” Emma mumbled chaotically, darting in to give Regina a soft peck on the lips. “I’ll call you when I get home.”

An hour later, Emma _was_ home. She had taken a little drive for the first twenty minutes, found that it didn’t help, hurried into her beautiful apartment, stripped, fucked herself, and showered only to find that it didn’t help either. So one hour after leaving Regina’s, she finally called.

“Regina Mills, horrible person speaking,” the brunette jested from her end.

“You’re not horrible – far from it,” Emma admitted with defeat.

There were a few moments of silence before a more serious voice sounded on the other end. “How come it took you so long to call me? You don’t live that far. I hope I didn’t _actually_ make you uncomfortable, Emma. I only thought we were playing.”

“No, we were. I … started it, I know. I just … I couldn’t think, and it took me so long to call because I wanted to kind of … get rid of this feeling.”

_Ah hah_ , Regina thought, flattered it had taken Emma so long to get the incident out of her system. “And?”

“And I still can’t think!”

“Emma, I’m so sorry … I really am.”

“You’re laughing.”

Regina held it back, settling down into her sofa. “If it makes you feel any better, I still feel just as frustrated, too.”

“… It helps a little.”

Regina looked down at the baggy t-shirt and pyjama shorts she’d changed into, comfortably lounging out along the sofa Emma had pinned her to earlier. She bit her lip and smiled, knowing Emma was on the other end of their call, probably still blushing. “Emma? … How long did you say it’s been for you?”

“… Like two years … maybe a little more.”

“So three?”

“Ish.”

Regina grinned: “Everything you say seduces me, it’s infuriating.”

“Ditto,” Emma grumbled, sounding rightly miserable.

“Well … I know that I still owe you a proper lap dance, and you still owe me a real massage with those strong hands of yours, but … what do you say to … perhaps … making good on this situation of ours first?”

Emma’s end went quiet.

“At your place? … Say, for Wednesday evening? I’ll be off a little early, and I can keep Henry late at your mother’s daycare if need be …”

“Yes, need be,” Emma practically stammered.

“Well then … it’s a date. A date where we can … perhaps put out that three-year-long fire that’s been raging, hmm? I think I have my work cut out for me, but something tells me it’ll go just fine …”

“R’gina … you can’t say things like that,” Emma whined, her head obviously buried in fabric of some sort. Her voice muffled.

“No pressure, Emma. We could always wait longer if you wish. It’s just an idea, really no pressure.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, there’s pressure?”

“No. Yes, the date.”

“No yes the date?” Regina chuckled. “Are you being purposefully obtuse?”

“No to pressure. Yes to the date.”

“Let’s call it … dinner out.”

Emma furrowed her brows from her end. “Dinner out? … We’re not eating out-“ And then she laughed. “You little fucking minx,” she laughed easily, glad she could swear with no toddlers around to hear it. “I stepped right into that one. No … let’s call it finger food at my place.”

Regina laughed then, too. “You pervert.”

“It’s not going too fast though, right?”

Regina hummed happily: “Not for me, no. For you?”

“Hell no.”

Again, Regina let loose a few peals of easy laughter. “You idiot. Alright, I’ll see you Wednesday then. I can’t wait.”

“Don’t be afraid to text!”

“Afraid? I’m not the one who doused myself with water and tripped on my way out of our last date.”

Emma rolled her eyes at Regina’s giggles, each woman saying their goodbyes before hanging up and reflecting on the decision they’d made.

Regina wondered how she was going to make it until that night to touch herself, and Emma wondered how she was going to make it almost four full days until she could have some kind of chance at releasing all of her pent up frustrations.

It was only until that night that Regina also realized her own touch was not doing the trick it used to in the absence of Emma’s hands and eyes and teasing words. She needed more. For the first time in a very long time, Regina couldn’t seem to properly please herself and that was alarmingly unsettling. Was she ready to be so enraptured by one person that she needed them in such a real way? She sent Emma out as her insecurity mounted.

**_\---_ **

**_I might miss you._ **

**_\---_ **

****

**_\---_ **

**Only MIGHT? Shit, that’s cold.**

**_\---_ **

 

Laughing so loudly that Henry started to stir from his nap, Regina typed back her response:

 

**_\---_ **

**_Okay, I miss you._ **

**_\---_ **

****

Regina was fixing Henry dinner by the time she could check her phone again, smiling from ear-to-ear when she read the playfully flirtatious message that gripped her heart and warmed it at the same time.

****

**_\---_ **

**Getting warmer …**

**_\---_ **

****

**_\---_ **

**_It didn’t work for me either btw._ **

**_\---_ **

****

**_\---_ **

**OMG please don’t tell me you’re going to tease me about that – I seriously will have a full blown meltdown over here. BE NICE!**

**_\---_ **

****

After dinner, when Henry went to find some of his toys, Regina sat in the living room with her phone, typing back-and-forth so happily that she realized what she was nervous about before wasn’t because she was nervous about being serious with Emma. She was worried about getting serious again with anyone, and it was an issue within herself. As she settled into the couch and typed out another answer for Emma, she thought that working through her fear of needing others could certainly be done with less understanding partners. Less understanding, less caring, and definitely less absolutely perfect for her in every sense of the word than Emma.

****

**_\---_ **

**I just miss you, Emma. I really do.**

**_\---_ **

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Regina win their little game, or is Regina feeling so desperate in the first place a win for Emma instead? Let me know what you think!


End file.
